When preparing products or storing them for a long time, it is required to use a preservative: a chemical or organic substance that can prevent the formation and vital activity of bacteria that lead to product spoilage. One of the most common preservatives is common table salt.
A preservative is a substance that prevents food from rotting and spoiling. Why will a freshly prepared lunch the next day be unusable if it is hot outside and at home? The answer is simple: because bacteria begin to multiply on the surface of the food. These microorganisms surround a person and his life everywhere and everywhere.
Some of the bacteria are beneficial to the human body, while others can cause irreparable harm, as in the case of sour food.
Scientists know many ways to prevent bacteria from growing and proliferating where they are not appropriate. These methods are embodied in special substances - preservatives. You don't have to go far to see them, because salt is a preservative that is recognized as the most widespread remedy in the fight against harmful bacteria.
Salt work
Salt kills not only harmful microbes for people, but also beneficial ones. It works indiscriminately, so it would be good to study the properties of table salt so as not to harm yourself.
The molecules of this substance have a characteristic feature: they draw in water molecules (this is why you are so thirsty if you have eaten something salty). And water is the source of life. And the simplest microorganisms cannot survive without life-giving moisture. If the preservative salt gets on the surface where bacteria live, then their cells will begin to intensively release water. And without it, as already mentioned, all living things die, including microbes.
Using the properties of salt
The name "canned food" suggests itself. Why can stew, sprats or canned olives lie on store shelves for so long? Because the sealed packaging prevents destructive bacteria from entering. And those that were in small quantities in the manufacture have long since died due to salt.
There is an opinion among housewives that grinding salt affects its preservative properties. So, for preservation, coarse (coarse) salt is usually used.
Products deprived of air access and having a salt shell or salt in their composition can remain fresh for a long time. There is even a known fact about the recently found stocks of stew for the soldiers of 1942. They were kept in a secret bunker all this time. Since during the war some military units were forced to retreat, none of the local residents knew about the reserves. The products are perfectly preserved and can be eaten today.
