Electrochemical Evaluation of the Organic Matter Content of Edible Sea and Rock Salts Retailed in the Greek Market.

Aikaterini Sakellari¹, Marta Plavšić², Sotirios Karavoltsos¹, Ioannis Diakos¹, Manos Dassenakis¹ and Charalampos Proestos^1*

¹Department of Chemistry, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece, 157 84
²Center for Marine and Environmental Research, Ruđer Bošković Institute, Zagreb, Croatia, 10002, P.O. Box 180.

Corresponding Author Email: harpro@chem.uoa.gr

The release of copper-complexing ligands in 14 sea and 10 rock edible salts retailed in the Greek market has been examined. The concentration of ligands (L_T) and the copper-binding strength (logK_app) of salt solutions were determined with Differential Pulse Anodic Stripping Voltammetry (DPASV).

The tested salt samples were found to have Cu complexing ligands, at concentrations ranging from <0.1 to 61.2 nmol g^-1. In none of the salt samples examined (except a single one) were L_Tvalues exceeded by the corresponding total copper concentrations, indicating that Cu is fully complexed.

Aiming to partially characterize the physico-chemical properties of the organic material contained in salts, the surface active substances (SAS) and catalytically active compounds (CAC) were measured, for the first time, in salt solutions by sensitive electrochemical techniques. Higher concentrations of organic carbon and SAS were determined in sea samples compared to rock salts.

salts; mineral; marine; copper complexation; SAS; CAC

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