Salicornia, the Green Salt

We share here some important information, compiled by the Producer - Salivitae - about the functional, nutritional properties and also some of the benefits associated with the consumption of salicornia.
Salicornia is a halophyte plant that has a unique physico-chemical characterization. It has high levels of mineral substances, such as sodium (18.19 g / 100g) and average levels of potassium (1.06 g / 100g), calcium (0.27 g / 100), phosphorus (0.23 g / 100g) ) and iron (19.67 mg / 100g). It is an exceptional source of antioxidant compounds, namely β-carotene (0.65 mg / 100 g), flavonols (0.49 g / 100 g), hydroxycinnamic acids (0.410 g / 100 g) and ascorbic acid (0, 86 mg / 100g).
The WHO, World Health Organization, “recommends the consumption of 5g of salt per day for an adult. This already includes not only the salt added to the food, but also that which is part of its composition, in the totality of all meals carried out throughout the day. On average, the Portuguese consume 10.7g of salt per day, which is twice what is recommended. ”
Why is salt bad for our health?
“It is the excess of saalt that is bad. When consumed in excess, it makes the body retain more fluids and increase the volume, leading to an overload in the circulatory system, damaging the kidneys and contributing to the increase in blood pressure.
According to data from the Portuguese population, if each person consumed 2g less salt (0.8g sodium) per day, the stroke rate would fall between 30% and 40% in the next 5 years, that is, on average, there would be 11,000 fewer cases stroke per year in Portugal! ”
Diseases associated with excess salt:
- Hypertension, which can lead to a stroke or myocardial infarction;
- Kidney diseases
- Stomach cancer
- Osteoporosis
The organic salicornia has 9.5 g of Na, approximately ¼ of the amount of sodium in the salt. This means that it does 4 times less and that you can consume it 4 times more, taking into account the values recommended by WHO!
What we can retain here is that the green salt that you could be using daily in your kitchen and are not, has unique mineral properties that are not found in sea salt. One of them is the amount of iron per 100g. In the case of coarse salt, it has only 0.03 mg / 100g whereas salicornia, as we have seen, can supplement your organism in a 600x higher value! And it needed a little help to the immune system, right?

Text adapted, authorship from Salivitae 
Sources:
𝘚𝘰𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘥𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘗𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘨𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘢 𝘥𝘢 𝘏𝘪𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘢̃𝘰
Julião M. (2013) “Avaliação do Potencial da Salicornia ramosíssima para saladas frescas ou em pó (sal verde)” Dissertação de Mestrado em Tecnologia de Alimentos. Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Universidade do Algarve)