A preliminary study: saltiness and sodium content of aqueous extracts from plants and marine animal shells

Abstract

To develop a salt substitute with low sodium content, the water-soluble components of seaweed, kelp, clamshell, oyster shell, semen cassiae, cuttlefish bone, inula flower, Arabia cowry shell, and sanna leaf were extracted with water. The aqueous extracts of nine species of plants and marine animal shells were obtained after drying the plants and shells at 105 °C until achieving a constant weight. The hedonic scale test revealed that the clamshell and cuttlefish bone aqueous extracts tasted distinctly salty. The result of the degree of difference test showed that the 1 % clamshell extract solution (m/v) and 0.6 % cuttlefish bone extract solution (m/v) both had equivalent saltiness of 0.6 % NaCl (m/v). In contrast, the sodium content in the cuttlefish bone extract solution was 27 % less than that in a NaCl solution of the same degree of saltiness. Therefore, a novel salt substitute will be developed in future studies in accordance with the principles of bionics and a deep understanding of the salty taste interactions among key salty components in the cuttlefish bone extract.