The reason we often put salt in food

Salt damages bacterial enzymes and DNA, while dehydrating food so bacteria do not have a favorable growth environment.

Salt is often used in two main ways to preserve food, either in granular or salt water, according to How Stuff Works. For example, making ham by marinating meat with salt or soaking cucumbers with salt water to turn into pickles.

Using salt to preserve meat is a long-standing method.(Photo: Wikihow).

Regardless of the form used, salt not only preserves long-term food but also prevents the growth of bacteria, including pathogens like salmonella causing food poisoning, typhoid fever. and some other serious problems.

Salt inhibits bacteria in many different ways. It breaks down enzymes and damages bacterial DNA. Salt also works to dehydrate, removing many of the water molecules present in the food that bacteria need to live and grow.

Water molecules in food are measured by the water's mobility index in food, a quantity indicating the presence of free water molecules. Before preserving with salt , many fresh foods have a water mobility index of 0.99. This index drops when dehydrated salt in food through osmosis.

In essence, the amount of salt outside the food tends to pull the water molecules inside out and replace them with salt molecules. This process takes place until the amount of salt on both sides is equal. When the water mobility index of food drops to 0.91, it prevents the growth of most bacteria. For some foods, this number may be 0.94.