Understanding the role of CaCl in salt substitute for low-salt and high-quality surimi products.

Salt substitute has been widely used to prepare low-salt foods due to potential health benefits, though the role of CaCl in salt substitute and its unique impacts on food quality have been rarely investigated. In this study, comprehensive research has been conducted to elucidate the effects of replacing NaCl with varying concentrations of CaCl on the surimi gel characteristics. The introduction of CaCl interacted with surimi proteins differently from NaCl, thus leading to difference in protein aggregation behaviors and surimi gel properties.