Does salt prevent water from absorbing nutrients and falvours from food?
A long time ago, I read somewhere, that there is a very specific reason, why we put salt in the water for cooking pasta: The point is to hinder the water from absorbing flavor and nutrients from the pasta. With soup its the other way around: We want to absorb the flavors into the water, which is why we salt it only at the end.
The explanation was, that salt "ionizes" water, which somehow makes it less likely to absorb things.
Is there any truth to this theory?
Source:
https://www.finecooking.com/article/the-science-of-salt
Quote:
Because pure water draws salts and other soluble nutrients from the interior of vegetables, salting vegetable cooking water also minimizes nutrient loss.
Best Answer
As a chemist, I'd say that you have it all wrong.
You add salt to pasta water to have the salt infuse into the pasta. So as the dry pasta absorbs water, salt comes into the pasta too. Salted pasta tastes better than unsalted pasta.
Salted soup tastes better than unsalted soup. Salt enhances our perception of the flavors in the soup, but it does not extract the flavors.
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Why can salt be used to remove water from foods?
Adding salt to food triggers a process of osmosis, which causes water to flow from an environment with a low salt concentration to one with a higher concentration. In this way, salt removes water from food, inhibiting the growth of micro-organisms.Does salt dry out water?
Answer: Technically, salt draws out moisture through the process of osmosis. This is the basis for all the theories about drying and toughening properties of salt when in contact with foods.What is the function of salt?
In short, the function of salt in the body is to maintain fluid levels and support muscle and nerve function. It also regulates blood fluids and prevents low blood pressure. The human body is made of roughly 60% water and the balance between water and sodium is important.How does salt work in food?
Salt acts as a preservative by altering the availability of water in foods, thereby depriving microbes from using available water as a nutrient. The growth of pathogens and spoilage organisms is impeded when salt is present. When making yeast breads, the amount of salt greatly affects the final texture of the bread.If You Stop Eating Salt, This Will Happen to Your Body
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Answer 2
This theory is news to me. I would be curious of its origins. From what I know, salt is added to pasta water to make pasta taste good... works for soup too! The reason to add salt at the end when making soups and sauces, is that evaporation occurs when using longer cooking times. If you add salt at the beginning, the end product could end up being over-salted due to evaporation and concentration of flavors.
By the way, dissolving salt in water does not make its atoms ionize (your salt is probably already ionized), and tap water also likely already contains ionized atoms from naturally occurring mineral salts.
While I linked the explanation for "ionized water" above, I will point out that there is some controversy, and not much science, supporting the health benefits of ionized alkaline water...or whether "ionized water" really has any meaning at all. Perhaps this is related to the origin of your theory.
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