We introduce an algebraic model, based on the determinantal expansion of the product of two matrices, to test combinatorial reductions of set functions. Each term of the determinantal expansion is deformed through a monomial factor in d indeterminates, whose exponents define a $\mathbb{Z}^{d}$-valued set function. By combining the Grassmann-Plücker relations for the two matrices, we derive a family of sparse polynomials, whose factorisation properties in a Laurent polynomial ring are studied and related to information-theoretic notions. Under a given genericity condition, we prove the equivalence between combinatorial reductions and determinantal expansions with invertible minor products; specifically, a deformation returns a determinantal expansion if and only if it is induced by a diagonal matrix of units in $\mathbb{C}(\mathbf{t})$ acting as a kernel in the original determinant expression. This characterisation supports the definition of a new method for checking and recovering combinatorial reductions for matroid permutations.