• Question: why did sailors cover their food in salt to prevent scurvy?

    Asked by nishathchoudhury17 to Lyn, Katy, Paul, PB on 26 Jun 2013.
    • Photo: Peter Balfe

      Peter Balfe answered on 26 Jun 2013:

      Did they? How weird.
      Sodium Chloride has nothing to do with Ascorbic Acid, more commonly known as vitamin C, which is what the sailors needed to prevent scurvy. Wonder what their reasoning was…

    • Photo: Ee Lyn Lim

      Ee Lyn Lim answered on 26 Jun 2013:

      I think what you mean is that they pickled their food 🙂 When sailors went on long voyages out to sea, they’d have to bring enough food to last them for months at a time. I don’t know if you noticed, but fruits and vegetables don’t last that long – they start rotting in days, especially without refrigerators!

      Food rots because bacteria and mold get to them, and start breaking them down into slimy mushy stuff that they can eat. Pickling fruits and vegetables (yes, in salt, or you could also use sugar or vinegar) stops bacteria and mold growing on them, so they stay edible for longer. That’s how sailors could make sure that they had enough greens to last them throughout the journey – because you get Vitamin C from these greens, which is what prevents scurvy!

    • Photo: Paul Waines

      Paul Waines answered on 26 Jun 2013:

      Sailors used salt to preserve their food. I went on the cutty sark in London the other week, and they explained this- it sounded like it must have tasted awful.

      One thing i was also told was that they had to eat fresh limes everyday when on a voyage. These contain vitamin C and were used to prevent scurvy, which is also called ‘barlows disease’ after the doctor who discovered it…

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