Abstract

A PRELIMINARY STUDY TO ANALYSE THE QUALITY OF SALT TYPE ON THE RED SEAWEED HALYMENIA DILATATA

S. Sadafunnisa and T.V. Poonguzhali*

ABSTRACT

The salt is essential for the majority of living organisms. It gives taste and enrich the quality of food. In last decade, there has been a growing interest in gourmet salts not only due to the food industry which has made them fashionable but also because people tend to believe that these type of salts are healthier. The distinct chemical composition of salts may contribute to some taste differences of where black salt known as kala namak, another salt which seeks important in food industry is pink salt from Himalaya (rock salt). To analyse the adulteration and nature of salt, seaweed which grows in marine environment is taken as test specimen. In the present study, the effect of various types of salts such as normal salt, pink salt, black salt, iodized salt, fried crystal salt which had an effect on the red seaweed Halymenia dilatata zanardini, on its growth, morphology, anatomy and biochemical changes. The results showed that pink salt and fried salt was more efficient than other types followed by salt from seawater and iodized salt. Black salt showed an adverse effect.

Keywords: Halymenia dilatata, types of salt, morphology, anatomy, biochemical.