Salt: A Sustaining Substance
by Swapna P on Aug 06, 2008 with 0 Comments
When we refer to salt, it is generally the table salt that is in our mind. However, to the scientist, salt refers to the chemical substances of which table salts is just one. A salt may be produced by chemical reaction between an acid and a base or by the displacement of hydrogen from an acid by a metal. Various methods are used in the laboratories to produce different salts.
All salts are made up of crystals. Common salt or table salt is made up of white cube shaped crystals. Its chemical name is sodium chloride. It is found dissolved in water and as rock salt used mineral in the world. According to an estimate there are about 16000 uses for it.
Common salt is used mainly for flavoring of food. It is used for preserving foodstuffs like meat, fish and vegetables. It is also used for preserving foodstuffs like meat, fish and vegetable. It is also used for making butter and margarine.
Several other industries like also make use of this salt for their different processes. Salt is used in the manufacture of dyes, pottery, medicine, paper, and leather. In certain countries, roads and pavements are covered by ice and snow in the cold winter months. Salt is sprinkled on them to melt the ice.
Salt is essential for the healthy working of our body. We require small quantities of salt as the body continuously loses it through the excretory system. On an average a normal adult requires half a gram of salt daily. However most people consume about 5 to 20 grams of salt in a day. The excess salt is filtered out from the body through sweat and urine.
Sea-water is very salty. In fact 5 liters of seawater contains about 100 grams of salt. In hot countries salt is obtained by allowing the seawater to flow into shallow pans or lagoons. The hot sun then evaporates the sea-water leaving the salt behind. This is then refined and sold as table salt.
Some times salt is not very easy to get. Rock salt is available from rocks deep below. These were formed millions of years ago when that area was once part of the sea. When these prehistoric seas dried up, the salt remained and got covered by the layers of rocks.
There are large salt mines in Canada, Poland, Siberia, and Cheshire. The rock salt has to be dug out from beneath the layers of rocks. Sometimes, water is pumped down to mix with the salt to form brine. This brine is then pumped up to the surface and evaporated to get the salt.
Salt has always been a very sustaining substance. It took on great religious significance during the ancient cultures. The Roman soldiers were paid with a salt allowance as part of their wages. The term “salary”, which means a regular payment for work done come from this custom.
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Published in: Cooking
