AI overview
Table salt is a mineral compound made primarily of sodium and chlorine (called halite in its natural form) that is extracted from rock deposits or seawater. It's an essential seasoning in cooking and food preservation, and it's also important for human health since our bodies need sodium to function properly.
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Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- mixture
- Has part
- potassium iodide
- Material used
- rock salt
- Image
- Single grain of table salt (electron micrograph).jpg
Show 7 more facts
- P460
- halite
- P1889
- G
- P1557
- saltiness
- P1424
- Template:Salt topics
Article
13 sectionsContents
- History
- Physical properties
- Edible salt
- Fortified table salt
- Other kinds
- Salt in food
- Biology of salt taste
- Sodium consumption and health
- Non-dietary uses
- Production
- In religion
- References
- Sources
thumb|Rock salt (halite)
Salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl). When used in food, especially in granulated form, it is more formally called table salt. In the form of a natural crystalline mineral, salt is also known as rock salt or halite. Salt is essential for life in general (being the source of the essential dietary minerals sodium and chlorine), and saltiness is one of the basic human tastes. Salt is one of the oldest and most ubiquitous food seasonings, and is known to uniformly improve the taste perception of food. Salting, brining, and pickling are ancient and important methods of food preservation.