The Evolution of Harvesting Sea Salt from Seawater has progressed from ancient manual methods to modern, sustainable techniques, improving efficiency while preserving the natural purity and mineral content of the salt.
Sodium Chloride NaCl, commonly known as salt, is an essential element of human life, being one of the substances without which the human body cannot function. Human body cannot manufacture Sodium by itself but, being an essential nutrient, it is required to sustain life and good health and for operating certain parts of the metabolism.
That is why human have to add the salt in their daily diet. On the other hand, under-consumption of salt may lead to threat to human body's nerves and muscles. Harvesting of Sea Salt an Alternate to Table Salt is practiced in many countries for hundred of years.
Consumer Consumption of Salt in United States
According to Centre of Disease Control, Americans, on average, consume about 3,400 mg/day which is relatively high. Medical researchers have now taken Sodium consumption under intense scrutiny as a major cause of heart disease in United States. The major reason of increase in average over-intake by Americans is the use of processed and fast foods.
While different other surveys conducted in United States and European Union have shown that actual range of intake was relatively higher than originally assumed ranging from 3,000 to sometimes 6,000 mg/day. In 2023, production of salt in the United States was estimated at 42 million metric tons.
The WHO , the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and American Heart Association recommend keeping sodium intake under 2,300 milligrams (mg) per day. The National Academy of Medicine however suggests aiming an ideal consumption of about 1,500 mg per day.
Importance of Salt for Human and Animals
Saltiness is one of the five basic human tastes in addition to sweetness, sourness, bitterness, and umami (a meaty taste). As salt dissolves in our food, it breaks into its components, sodium and chloride where the salty flavor primarily comes from the sodium.
Sodium is essential for function of nerves and muscles and is involved in the regulation of fluids in the body while it also plays a role in the body's control of blood pressure and volume.
Although sodium is essential, people who consume too much salt are at a higher risk of hypertension or high blood pressure leading to serious illnesses such as heart disease, kidney disease, and stroke.
Apart from humans, animals also need salt for their body needs. Farm animals such as horses and cattle normally have access to salt blocks while wild mammals are known to aggregate at natural mineral deposits known as salt licks where they can ingest the essential sodium and chloride minerals for their survival.
Sources of Rock Salt
Rock salt and Sea Salt are two basic sources of salt for humans and both were found millions of years ago. Rock salt consists of the possible remains of prehistoric seas that have dried leaving layers of salt behind. These deposits can be found several hundred meters deep and spreading over wide areas in many locations across the globe.
Currently operating underground salt mines in North America are located in Ohio, Michigan, Louisiana, Kansas, Texas and New York. Three of the world’s largest salt mines are in Ontario, Canada, Salt Range of Pakistan and Prahova Salt Mine in Romania.
Rock salt or most commonly called table salt is processed or refined to make it both purer and finer, thereby removing any undesired natural minerals it may contain. Table salt is then fortified with additives to prevent it from clumping together. One important additive in table salt is the mineral iodine, which helps make thyroid hormones and thus contributes to thyroid health.
Harvesting Sea salt
Sea salt is made by evaporating seawater. The salt left over from evaporation needs not to be processed. It contains traces of minerals like calcium, potassium, and magnesium also.
The sea salt crystals are bigger than found in table salt and add some crunch when sprinkled on food. History of harvesting sea salt goes back in 6000BC where Chinese are believed to be the first to harvesting sea salt from coastal areas.
They developed different techniques for harvesting sea salt which somehow remain the same since thousands of years. Egyptians on the other hand had been using sea salt for preserving mummies also, showcasing its importance beyond just culinary uses.
Both table salt and sea salt contain around 40% sodium by weight. Sea salt have bigger crystals than of table salt, so there's usually less sodium in a spoon of sea salt compared to a spoon of table salt due to their different-sized crystals. For example, a teaspoon of table salt contains around 2,360 mg of sodium compared to 2,000 mg in a teaspoon of sea salt.
Himalayan Pink Salt
Himalayan salt or more commonly called Himalayan Pink Salt is a pink-colored variety of salt that is found in the Punjab region of Pakistan, near the Himalayan hills. The origins of this type of salt date back hundreds of millions of years, when the salt was deposited in a prehistoric times.
The Himalayan salt market is relatively small but in recent years the exports of the pink salt have grown to 400,000 tons of salt each year.
All salts consist of sodium chloride, including Himalayan salt. A teaspoon of regular table salt contains about 2,300 milligrams of sodium, the daily recommended amount. A teaspoon of Himalayan salt contains about 2,200 milligrams of sodium.
Other uses of Himalayan Pink Salt
Some health researches claim preference of Himalayan salt over the years. Himalayan salt can detoxify the body or even increase libido. It contains lesser proportion of sodium as compared to regular table salt causing lesser danger of heart attack. Some of the companies are preparing salt lamps to purify the air.
However, manufacturers of these decorative pink salt lamps claim that these lamps can boost mood, improve sleep, ease allergies, help people with asthma to breathe better and clean the air, among other benefits. The claims do not have authentic scientific evidence.
Sea Salt Harvesting Process
Interestingly, the process for harvesting sea salt on commercial level is actually just a scaled-up version of how sea salt has been harvested for centuries as no technological advancement were actually required to change the processing method.
There are interlocking and interconnected shallow ponds exposed to the sun and wind where water evaporates and the salt concentrates. The sea water starts off with a natural salinity of about 3% and ends up at about 25% salinity at the point of desired optimum evaporation.
At this point, the salt starts to crystallize and can be harvested. The average concentration of salt in the sea water is 30 grams/liter which at the end of the evaporation process reaches 330 grams/liter.
Once it is ready for harvesting, it is transferred to washing facilities. Initially, the salt is rinsed in a brine solution to wash out calcium and other impurities, and then in actual bay water to dissolve the magnesium chloride to obtain pure salt. The whole process normally takes about five years.
Sea salt harvesting is widely practiced throughout the year. United States is producing 42 million tons of sea salt every year. China, India and Germany are other largest producers of sea salt.
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