Sugar, Salt, Milkfat as Flavour and Satiety Ingredients. A Chemical Perspective

The modern industry of prepared foods has to face some important challenges when speaking of taste, palatability, and satiety. From the practical viewpoint of food producers, the following factors should be considered: the approximate composition of products; target of food consumers; considered marketing channels; type of post-production services; and so on. In this specific ambit, desired sensorial properties should be obtained by means of the modification of the original recipe or idea of the food product, also considering enhanced features such as long durability and ameliorated colours. In general, the research for tasteful, sweet, palatable foods (and also for products able to promote satiety) takes into account the role of three basic ingredients or classes of ingredients for food production: sugars, salt, and milkfat. Different perspectives can be considered when speaking of these ingredients and their influence of sensorial properties of foods and beverages. This chapter is dedicated to a general description of chemical features of these compounds and classes of ingredients and related effects when speaking of edible preparations. The chemical characterisation can notably enhance the comprehension of related uses in the food and beverage sector. The following categories—sugars, including several similar definitions for these molecules; food-grade salt/sodium chloride, with different types including fortified versions for nutritional and health purposes; milkfat—are discussed with relation to chemical and physical features, and specific characteristics linked to palatability and satiety performances, also taking into account current Codex Standards.