English Name

Sea Salt

Definition

Samunder Namak is a halite mineral, described as Sea salt (NaCl).

Synonyms

Samskrta : Sāmudra, Sāmudraka

Regional Name

Bangali - Karakaca, English - Sea salt, Gujarati - Mīthu, Hindi - Pāngā, Pāngānona, Samudri Namak, Kannada - Hojatha, Marathi - Mītha, Tamil - Sorruppu, Uppu (S.F.I.), Telugu - Samudrapu Uppu

Broad Classification

Halite

Origin and occurrence:

Samunder Namak is formed as extensive irregular beds due to evaporation of seawater in saltpans along seashores in India. Samunder Namak occurs in association with gypsum, poly halite, anhydrite, clay, sand stone and calcite etc. in these pans. Some commercial saltpans, known as source of Samunder Namak in India, are Thuthukkudi (Tuticorin) in Tamilnadu, Cambay in Gujarat and Sambar Lake in Rajasthan.

Physical Properties

Nature : Crystalline coarse grained aggregates, Colour : White / off white, Streak : None, Cleavage : Perfect cubic, Fracture : Conchoidal, Lustre : Vitreous, Tenacity : Brittle, Transparency : Transparent, Hardness : 2.5, Sp. Gr. : 1.98 to 2.2, Taste : Salty

Optical Properties:

Isotropic with R.I. 1.540 to 1.544 (Appendix-2)

Chemical Properties:

Effect of Heat:

• Take a crystal of Samunder Namak on a porcelain plate. Blow a burner flame through blowpipe over the Lava´a. The colour of the flame becomes deep yellow indicating the presence of sodium.
• When heated through blowpipe, Samunder Namak crackles and decrepitates and on addition of copper oxide to it, gives the usual blue chlorine flame (Appendix-3.4.3). Reaction with silver nitrate: Take 5 g Samunder Namak and dissolve it in purified water. Add a freshly prepared 5% w/v solution of silver nitrate (AgNO3) in purified water, drop by drop, to this Lava´a solution. A white precipitate of silver chloride (AgCl) forms. Assay:
• Samunder Namak should contain not less than 35% Sodium (Na) when analysed by flame photometry (Appendix-3.2.13).
• Samunder Namak should contain not less than 58% Chlorine (Cl) (Appendix-3.1.10). Heavy metals and Arsenic: Samunder Namak should not contain more than the stated limits for the following: - Lead = 12 ppm, Arsenic = 4 ppm and Cadmium = 4 ppm (Appendix-3.2).

Properties and Actions

Rasa - Lavana, Guna - Snigdha, Laghu, Usna, Vīrya - Nāti Usna / Nāti Śītala, Vipāka - Madhura, Karma - Vāta-hara, H¨dya, Bhedī, Rucikara, Dīpana,Kaphahara, Śūlaghna, Avidāhi, Īsat Pittala, Snehana, Pācana, Kledana, Balya

Therapeutic Uses

Ajīrna (dyspepsia), Śosa (cachexia), Jīrna carma roga(chronic skin diseases), Galaganda (goiter), Pāndu (anaemia), Pratiśyāya(coryza)

Dose

According to formulation

Important Formulations

Lava´a Bhāskara cūrna, Sāmudrādya cūrna, Nārāya´a cūr´a, Mahāśankha vatī, Kalyānaka guda