Signature of the Himalayan salt

Abstract Sodium chloride (NaCl) is the most important seasoning in every table around the world. Despite refined table salt is the most popular type of salt, the pinkish salt known as Himalayan salt is gaining importance worldwide. The aim of the present work is to measure the elemental content of different salts sold in the Brazilian market and compare them with Himalayan salt. To that end, PIXE (Particle-Induced X-ray Emission) was used to characterize salt samples. The experiments employed 2 MeV protons with typical currents of 0.5 nA at the target. X-rays were detected by a Si(Li) detector placed at 135° with respect to the beam direction. The results indicate that besides Na and Cl, Brazilian salts have trace elements like S, Ca, Br and Sr in different proportions. The pink salt appears to be characterized by relatively large amounts of Mg, Si, K, Ti and Fe. The differences observed are discussed in terms of origin of the product.