The effect of potassium chloride as a salt replacer on the qualities of processed cheese

The objective of this study was to evaluate and compare the effects of potassium chloride (KCl) and potassium based emulsifying salts as a salt (NaCl) replacer on the chemical, physical, microbiological and sensory characteristics of pasteurized processed cheese. The treatment 1 (T1) was made using the potassium chloride (KCl) and the treatment 2 (T2) was made using a mixture of 50% of potassium chloride and 50% of sodium chloride (NaCl+KCl). The control sample of processed cheese was made using the sodium chloride (NaCl) only. The processed cheese samples were analyzed for chemical (fat, moisture, protein, salt, pH, and meltability), physical (hardness, cohesiveness, springiness, chewiness and gumminess), microbiological (total plate, coliform, yeast, and mold counts), and sensory (color, texture, and saltiness) characteristics. The results of fat content, moisture content, pH and meltability in T1 and T2 were not significantly different than the control, but in the microbial results, the control had the lowest number of microbial counts followed by T1 and T2. The replacement of NaCl using KCl had a significant effect on sensory properties including hardness, bitterness and saltiness of processed cheese. In conclusion, potassium chloride has high potential for use as a salt replacer without changing the chemical properties, but it has limited 314 Journal of Student Research application for use in processed cheese because of short shelf life and low sensory qualities compared with the control. A combination of 50% NaCl and 50% KCl was recommended for use as a salt replacer in the processed cheese with other ingredients such like flavor enhancers, which can mask the bitter flavor produced by KCl