FEATURE
Role of Salt in Baking
➤ The functions of salt in baking
include stabilizing the yeast
fermentation rate, strengthening
the dough, enhancing the flavor of
the final product, and increasing
dough mixing time.
➤ In addition to sodium chloride,
there are other salts that are
important in baking, especially
in chemically leavened products
such as cake, biscuits, pancakes,
etc.
➤ It has been reported that cereal
products contribute about 25%
of the sodium intake in Western
diets.
➤ Potassium chloride is widely used
as a partial salt substitute.
R. A. Miller
Kansas State University
Manhattan, KS
R. C. Hoseney
R&R Research Services, Inc.
Manhattan, KS
T he general term salt in baking formu-
las refers to sodium chloride. Salt is
one of the four essential ingredients in
bread (flour, salt, yeast, and water). The
functions of salt in baking include stabi-
lizing yeast fermentation rate, strengthen-
ing the dough, enhancing the flavor of the
final product, and increasing dough mix-
ing time.
The flavor-enhancing function of salt is
well known. Omitting salt from the for-
mula results in baked products that are
quite tasteless. At the level used, salt does
not impart a salty taste to the product but
rather brings out the other flavors in the
system. It is also known to increase sweet-
ness and mask metallic, bitter, or other off
flavors. The reasons and mechanism of this
doi:10.1094 / CFW-53-1-0004
© 2008 AACC International, Inc.
 / JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2008, VOL. 53, NO. 1
function of salt are outside the expertise of The effect of salt on mixing time and
the authors and will not be discussed fur- dough strengthening is explained as fol-
ther in this manuscript. lows. In a flour-water system at a normal
An important function of salt in bread- pH (~6.0), the gluten protein has a
making is its stabilizing effect on fermen- net positive charge. These posi-
tation. In dough made without salt, the tive charges repulse each
yeast ferments excessively resulting in other. This allows the glu-
gassy, sour dough and baked products with ten to hydrate faster
open grain and poor texture (14). Salt in- (shorter mixing time)
hibits or “controls” fermentation rate by and keeps the pro-
decreasing the rate of gas production (6), tein chains from
which results in longer proof times (18,25). interacting with
This appears to be the result of increased each other, re-
osmotic pressure and the action of the so- sulting in a
dium and chloride ions on the membrane weaker dough.
of the yeast cells (14). Salt gives the baker Low levels of
a tool to control the production of carbon salt shield the
dioxide gas and the other products of fer- charges (19)
mentation, especially in the warm summer allowing the
months if temperature control is a problem protein chains
in the bakery. to approach each
It is well known in the baking industry other. This causes
that salt lengthens the mixing time of the flour to hydrate
dough (Fig. 1). This has been well more slowly (longer
documented by the farinograph (7,13,17, mixing time) and allows the
21,22,27,29) and in the mixograph (4, protein chains to react more
12,24). The longer mix time slows the rate tenaciously to form a stron-
of production in large bakeries that are on ger dough (3,4,29). Danno
tight production schedules and increases and Hoseney (4) showed that
the energy cost of mixing. Therefore it is doughs that had been over-
common practice to delay salt addition mixed to the point that they
until the dough has reached the clean-up had lost their elas-
stage (when the dough forms into a
continuous mass and no longer sticks to
tic character could
be returned to a
the sides of the mixer). At this stage the normal elasticity
dough is essentially hydrated and the by the addition
added salt does not affect the time required of salt. They
to finish mixing. also showed that
Farinograph studies have also shown at high levels of
that salt decreases water absorption (7,13, salt (>10%), dough
21,22,27,29). This effect was not reported did not form in the time
in mixograph or baking studies. frame of the experiment
It is well known that salt has a strength- (Fig. 1).
ening effect on dough. This
has been documented
in the farinograph
(7,13,17,22,
27,29), mixo-
graph (4,12,24),
extensigraph
(21,27), and
baking stud-
ies (5,6,9).
 Although salt increases dough strength, The chaotropic salts have the opposite ef- (10) suggested could be accommodated in
levels of salt above the optimum level of fect with the protein being more hydrated a hydrophobic core. Thus, wheat gluten
1.5–2% for bread (5) do not necessarily and more soluble. The salts thus can have has surface hydrophobicity, which pro-
improve loaf volume. Holmes and Ho- pronounced effects on both hydrogen motes protein aggregation through hydro-
seney (9) observed a substantial decrease bonding and on hydrophobic interactions phobic interactions. Bernardin (2) sug-
in volume of loaves at elevated salt levels. between proteins. gested that these hydrophobic interactions
They also observed that salts other than Salt also affects the water phase of the play an important role in the rheological
sodium chloride had a deleterious effect dough system. Increased salt concentra- and baking properties of flours. The fact
on loaf volume (Fig. 2). tion generally increases the ordering of that neutral salts could alter the hydropho-
He et al. (6) studied the effect of differ- water structure. This ordering is highly de- bic interactions between gluten proteins
ent salts on the baking properties of flours pendent on the anion type, with nonchao- has been suggested by a number of work-
that varied widely in baking quality. They tropic ions strongly promoting ordering. ers (1,4,11,19–22, 29).
reported that sodium sulfate greatly im- The increase in ordered water structure al- As shown above, different salts have
proved the rheological properties, loaf vol- lows proteins to interact with each other widely different effects on dough rheolo-
ume, and crumb grain of the poor-quality through hydrophobic interactions (16,28). gy. At first glance it appears that by select-
flour but made the good quality flour too Wheat gluten has been shown to contain ing the right salt one could obtain the rhe-
elastic (bucky) for good breadmaking. The about 35% hydrophobic amino acids (15). ology desired for baking. However, the
improvement of the poor quality flour was This is greater than the 28% that Kinsella effect of various ions on yeast activity and
assumed to be by increasing the hydropho-
bic interactions between the gluten pro-
teins. They also found that the improve-
ment in baking quality of the poor quality
flour by salts was limited. While the im-
provement was substantial, it did not im-
prove the baking properties of the poor
quality flour to the level produced using
good quality flour and sodium chloride.
This suggests that factors other than hydro-
phobic interactions affect the baking prop-
erties of flours.
In addition to sodium chloride there are
other salts that are important in baking, es-
pecially in chemically leavened products
such as cake, biscuits, pancakes, etc. In
chemical leavening reactions, sodium bi-
carbonate is reacted with an acidic salt in
the presence of moisture and heat to form
carbon dioxide as the leavening agent. Wa-
ter and salt are also produced in the reac-
tion. Holmes and Hoseney (9) used a com-
Fig. 1. Mixograms of doughs containing indicated amounts of sodium chloride. From Danno
bination of yeast and chemical leavening to and Hoseney (4).
show that certain ions were detrimental to
loaf volume. Both rheological (mixograph)
and baking studies showed that the effect
of the ions was related to their position in
the anionic lyotropic series (Hofmeister se-
ries). The Hofmeister series ranks various
ions on their ability to precipitate proteins
from solution (8). The series lists both an-
ions and cations in order from most stabi-
lizing (nonchaotropic) to most destabiliz-
ing (chaotropic). The order for anions from
nonchaotropic to chaotropic is SO4 > PO4
> F > Cl > Br > I > NO3 > ClO4 > SCN.
The order for cations is NH4 > Cs > Rb > K
= Na > H > Ca > Mg > Al. The anions have
a much greater effect than do the cations.
Although most agree that the series has its
effect by its action on water, there is still
debate about how it does this (for a discus-
sion of current research on the topic, see
Chemical & Engineering News, Nov. 28,
2007, p. 47). In general terms, the noncha-
otropic salts cause the protein to be less Fig. 2. Baking results of selected ions of the anionic lyotropic series. From Holmes and Hos-
hydrated, more structured, and less soluble. eney (9).

CEREAL FOODS WORLD / 

on human health must be kept in mind as
well as the effect of the various salts on the
taste of the final product.
Salt contains 39% sodium. Consump-
tion of high levels of sodium has been
linked to hypertension (high blood pres-
sure). It has been reported that cereal
products contribute about 25% of the so-
dium intake in Western diets (23). This has
spurred interest in reducing the sodium
chloride level or completely or partially
replacing sodium chloride in baked prod-
uct formulations with alternative salts.
Wyatt (30) reports that the salt content of
white or whole wheat bread could be re-
duced by 50% with no change in flavor or
overall acceptability. Sensory tests showed
that 20% of the sodium chloride could be
replaced with potassium chloride or 10%
of the sodium chloride could be replaced
with magnesium chloride or magnesium
acetate without causing a deleterious effect
on bread flavor (23). Takano et al. (26) sug-
gests that sodium chloride in bread can be
completely replaced with potassium gluco-
nate with no effect on loaf volume or over-
all desirability.
Potassium chloride is a widely used salt
substitute. It has been shown to have an
effect in baking similar to sodium chloride
except that at high levels it imparts an
undesirable off flavor often described as
metallic, bitter, or chemical in nature (22).
Mixtures of 50% sodium chloride and
50% potassium chloride have frequently
been used with fair results in reduced-so-
dium products (14).
breadmaking properties. Cereal Chem.
64:343-348, 1987.
10. Kinsella, J. E. Relationship between structure
and functional properties of food proteins.
Page 62 in: Food Proteins. P. F. Fox and J. J.
Gordon, eds. Applied Science Publishers, New
York, 1982.
11. Kinsella, J. E., and Hale, M. L. Hydrophobic
associations and gluten consistency: Effect of
anions. J. Agric. Food Chem. 32:1054-1056,
1984.
12. Lang, C. E., Neises, E. K., and Walker, C. E.
Effects of additives on flour-water dough mix-
ograms. Cereal Chem 69:587-591, 1992.
13. Maher Galal, A., Varriano-Marston, E., and
Johnson, J. A. Rheological dough properties as
affected by organic acids and salt. Cereal
Chem. 55:683-691, 1978.
14. Matz, S. A. Water and salt. Pages 123–150 in:
Bakery Technology and Engineering, third
edition. Van Nostrand Reinhold/AVI, New
York, 1992.
15. McDonald, C. E., and Gilles, K. A. Amino
acid composition of wheat related to quality.
Baker’s Dig. 41(1):45-49,73, 1967.
16. Melander, W., and Horvath, C. Salt effects on
hydrophobic interactions in precipitation and
chromatography of proteins: An interpretation
of the lyotropic series. Arch. Biochem. Bio-
phys. 183:200-215, 1977.
17. Moore, C. L., and Herman, R. S. The effect of
certain ingredients and variations in manipula-
tions on the farinograph curve. Cereal Chem.
19:568-587, 1942.
18. Peppler, H. J. Yeast. Page 64 in: Bakery Tech-
nology and Engineering. S. Matz, ed. AVI
Publishing, Westport, CT, 1960.
19. Preston, K. R. Effects of neutral salts upon
wheat gluten protein properties. I. Relation-
ship between the hydrophobic properties of
gluten proteins and their extractability and tur-
bidity in neutral salts. Cereal Chem. 58:317-
324, 1981.
20. Preston, K. R. Gel filtration and characteriza-
tion of neutral salt extracted wheat gluten pro-
teins varying in hydrophobic properties. Cere-
al Chem. 61:76-83, 1984.
21. Preston, K. R. Effects of neutral salts of the
lyotropic series on the physical dough proper-
ties of a Canadian red spring wheat flour. Ce-
real Chem. 66:144-148, 1989.
22. Salovaara, H. Effect of partial sodium chloride
replacement by other salts on wheat dough
rheology and breadmaking. Cereal Chem.
59:422-426, 1982.
23. Salovaara, H. Sensory limitations to replace-
ment of sodium, with potassium and magne-
sium in bread. Cereal Chem. 59:427-430,
1982.
24. Sanchez, C. R. S., Hoseney, R. C., and Moritz,
G. Brine vs. dry salt in breadmaking. Baker’s
Dig. 47(2):23-25,67, 1973.
25. Strong, L. R. The functional properties of salt
in bakery products. Baker’s Dig. 43(1):55-57,
1969.
26. Takano, H., and Kondou, R. Sodium gluconate
and potassium gluconate as substitute for so-
dium chloride in breadmaking. Food Sci.
Technol. Res. 8:75-79, 2002.
27. Tanaka, K., Furukawa, K., and Matsumoto, H.
The effect of acid and salt on the farinogram
and extensigram of dough. Cereal Chem.
44:675-680, 1967.
28. Von Hippel, P. H., and Schleich, T. The effects
of neutral salts on the structure and conforma-
tional stability of macromolecules in solution.
Page 417 in: Structure and Stability of Bio-
logical Macromolecules. S. N. Timasheff and
G. D. Forman, eds. Marcel Dekker, New York,
1969.
29. Wherli, H. P., and Pomeranz, Y. The role of
chemical bonds in dough. Baker’s Dig.
43(6):22-26, 1969.
30. Wyatt, J. C. Acceptability of reduced sodium
in breads, cottage cheese, and pickles. J. Food
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References
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with small molecules and ions—The control
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Chem. 50:735-745, 1973.
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dium chloride and sodium dodecyl sulfate on
mixograph properties. Cereal Chem. 59:202-
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bread-making method after 44 years. Cereal
Chem. 61:20-27, 1984.
6. He, H., Roach, R. R., and Hoseney, R. C. Ef-
fect of nonchaotropic salts on flour bread-
making properties. Cereal Chem. 69:366-371,
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7. Hlynka, I. Influence of temperature, speed of
mixing, and salt on some rheological proper-
ties of dough in the farinograph. Cereal Chem.
39:286-303, 1962.
8. Hofmeister, F. Arch. Exp. Pathol. Pharmacol.
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9. Holmes, J. T., and Hoseney, R. C. Chemical
leavening: Effect of pH and certain ions on
Rebecca A. Miller received her B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees
in grain science from Kansas State University (KSU). She is
currently the director of the KSU Wheat Quality Lab. Prior to
joining KSU, she worked at R&R Research Services, Inc.,
conducting contract research and teaching short courses in
the United States and abroad for AACC International, AIB,
and in-house for various companies. She was a recipient of
the Rheology Division Young Scientist Award. She has served
as secretary, vice chair, and chair of the Rheology Division.
Rebecca is currently starting her third three-year term as an
associate editor for Cereal Chemistry. She can be reached at
beckym@ksu.edu.
R. Carl Hoseney is the president of R&R Research Services,
Inc., an independent consulting firm located in Manhattan,
KS. He is also the editor-in-chief of Cereal Chemistry. He
received B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees from Kansas State
University (KSU). He was a research chemist for the USDA
for 15 years and a professor of grain science at KSU for 25
years. He has published more that 340 papers and holds 15
patents. He can be reached at r_and_r@kansas.net.

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