In the end – about salt

Salt is uniquely timeless – it exists since water and stone exist and will exist long after us. Historically, salt has accompanied human development since time immemorial. The discovery that salt can be used to preserve food has profoundly influenced the progress of mankind and the development of the economy of many countries.

Special Features of Hand Harvested Nin Sea Salt

Natural salts are rock and sea salt. Stone salt is obtained from salt mines, and sea salt from the sea. Most saltworks produce salt by industrially processing and treating it in production plants. Nin Saltworks does not do that. It collects salt in open salt fields by filling salt pans with seawater in the spring. Natural evaporation produces brine from which the salt crystallizes. In good weather conditions, the crystallization and harvesting of salt begins at the beginning of summer and lasts until the beginning of autumn. Nin sea salt is original, unprocessed and as such rich in natural minerals.

Hand harvested and unrefined sea salt is the healthiest as a part of the diet because it contains seaweed iodine, which affects the proper functioning of the thyroid gland, bromine, necessary for the nervous system, and potassium, which helps with concentration and mental work. Sea salt is a remedy for stress and cellulite, and thus an elixir for healthy and beautiful skin. Salt strongly affects the exchange between the cells in the skin and subcutaneous tissue by stimulating metabolism and excretion of harmful substances.

How is Nin salt actually produced?

The production of salt in a natural and ecological way at the Solana Nin occurs in five groups of pools under a clear sky. In the first four groups, the natural evaporation of water from the Adriatic Sea takes place through the influence of solar and wind energy during dry and warm periods of the year, while in the fifth group, the so-called sea salt crystallizes from condensed seawater (brine) in crystallization basins.

The first salt to crystallize is the salt flower on the surface of the brine that is harvested every day with the help of a micron sieve in ideal weather conditions – during a sunny period without wind (early morning hours). After evaporation of the brine (10 days), natural crystalline salt (15-20 mm) remains at the bottom. Before the "harvest", i.e. the collection of salt, the excess brine is drained to filter the salt. The salt thus drained is then collected by hand in piles and as such transported to storage.

The average production of sea salt in the last 10 years in the Nin Saltworks is 3200 t. The production of sea salt is favoured by high temperatures and winds, especially the "dry" southeast wind, mistral and light bora. The "harvest" season lasts 63 days on average during late spring, summer and early autumn.