Quality Characteristics of Kochujang Prepared with Peach Jam and Salt Replacement

Abstract

Kochujang, hot pepper paste, is a widely consumed Korean traditional food and also makes a typical Korean meal. The objective of the present study was to investigate the quality characteristics of kochujang prepared with salt replacement (SR) as a substitute of ordinary salt (OS) since intake of high sodium is not good for health. Reducing sugar (29.35%) and amino nitrogen (82.6%) contents of SR kochujang were significantly high compared to OS kochujang (24.82 and 68.6%, respectively), however, sodium content was significantly lower in SR kochujang (1292.26 mg/100 g) than in OS kochujang (1568.71 mg/100 g). Free sugars like fructose and glucose contents were also significantly high in SR kochujang. Similarly, antioxidant potentials in terms of DPPH and ABTS were significantly high for SR kochujang (30.13 and 27.31%) compared to OS kochujang (27.05 and 24.72%), respectively. In addition, the score for overall acceptance of SR kochujang (4.81) was higher than that of OS kochujang (3.13). Results of the present study suggested that nutritious kochujang having significantly higher antioxidant potentials and lower sodium content could be prepared using salt replacement as a substitute of ordinary salt.