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Environment

Briny Food Textures

A small amount of salt can alter the secondary structure of proteins, and thus the texture of some foods

by Sarah Everts
December 15, 2008 | A version of this story appeared in Volume 86, Issue 50

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Credit: Chem. Commun.
A little salt causes poly-L-glutamate to compress its form.
Credit: Chem. Commun.
A little salt causes poly-L-glutamate to compress its form.

Salt doesn't impact just the flavor of foods, it also influences foods' texture. Now, a molecular dynamics simulation study suggests how a small concentration of salt alters the secondary structure of proteins that affect the texture of foods such as mayonnaise, salad dressing, and yogurt (Chem. Commun., DOI: 10.1039/b816055d). Jonathan M. Goodman of the Unilever Centre for Molecular Science Informatics at the University of Cambridge and colleagues observed that poly-L-glutamate switches from a coil conformation to a compressed helix in only 0.3 M NaCl solutions. The polypeptide chain takes on an extended conformation when the simulation is run in pure water because the negatively charged side chains repel each other, the researchers note. But the presence of salt helps stabilize the side chains' negative charges, permitting the side chains to be closer together in the helical form. Salt may play a large role in how proteins in foods feel in one's mouth, Goodman says. "The salt effect on food texture is something every college student boiling instant noodles in water should know about," he adds.

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