Abstract
Although salt was used for preserving fish as far back as 3500 B.C., the origin of its use in curing meat is lost in antiquity. Homer in the Odyssey, written about the eighth century B.C., describes sausage made by adding salt to meat. By the fifth century B.C., production of salted meat products had become commonplace. Ancient humans were well aware of the preservative action of salt, which was probably discovered by accident. It is also probable the color-preserving properties of saltpeter (nitrate) were discovered as a result of its presence as an impurity in salt.
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© 1996 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
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Pearson, A.M., Gillett, T.A. (1996). Curing. In: Processed Meats. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-7685-3_3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-7685-3_3
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