Redpoint Advances Salt Enhancer Discovery Program

The objective of the salt enhancer program is to identify natural flavor ingredients that can provide a significant reduction in the amount of sodium in food and beverage products, yet maintain the salty taste that consumers desire.

Oct 11 2010 --- Redpoint Bio Corporation, a company focused on the development of healthier foods and beverages and new approaches to the treatment of diabetes and obesity, announced that it has advanced its discovery program for all-natural enhancers of salty taste. The program was initiated in response to consumers increasing demand for products that are both healthful and that include all-natural ingredients. The objective of the salt enhancer program is to identify natural flavor ingredients that can provide a significant reduction in the amount of sodium in food and beverage products, yet maintain the salty taste that consumers desire.

One approach to salt reduction involves the use of savory flavors to reduce the amount of salt in products. However, the scientific basis for savory enhancement of salty taste is obscure and difficult to address, particularly since the molecular receptor for salt in humans in unknown, making direct measurements impossible using cell-based assay approaches.

Redpoint is using its proprietary MOG assay technology for its salt enhancer discovery program. The MOG technology was developed specifically to deal with the complex sensory and experimental issues associated with the discovery of all-natural compounds, which are often derived from plant or fermentation sources containing complex mixtures of taste ingredients. Historically, natural tastants or enhancers have been discovered by trial and error using human tasters. The MOG is an enabling technology that facilitates high throughput screens of tastant libraries and natural product extracts by rodents trained to discriminate specific taste standards. MOG-trained rodents are "expert" taste testers capable of rapidly identifying taste from small samples with a high level of accuracy, providing an effective means of evaluating the taste properties of complex natural product extracts.

Redpoint originally developed its MOG technology to discover natural high-potency sweeteners and sweetener enhancers. More recently, Redpoint scientists have developed and optimized a high-throughput salt-taste detection system, in which MOG-trained rodents discriminate salt from other essential tastes (savory, sweet, sour, and bitter). The MOG approach will be used to evaluate the salt-tasting and salt-enhancing potential of natural sources such as fermentation products and edible plant extracts, with a focus on isolating active components from ingredients already used in the food industry.

Reducing sodium in the diet

The goal of salty taste enhancement is to allow the use of reduced quantities of common salt (sodium chloride) in food and beverage products while preserving the salty taste level desirable to consumers. The Report of the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee on the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2010 recommends an intake of less than 1,500 mg of sodium per day, although the average American consumes more than 4,000 mg of sodium per day. The guidelines are expected to be finalized and published by the US Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) and the Department of Agriculture (USDA) later this year. Reducing the intake of sodium can be beneficial in reducing the incidence of hypertension and heart attacks in a susceptible, mainly aging, population. Current solutions for salt replacement have not fully succeeded in maintaining both the taste and functionality of sodium chloride.