After Food & Beverages, Industrial Salt Emerges as a Preservative for Plant Based Cannabis

The growing chemical industries have specifically increased the demand for industrially manufactured sodium chloride. Industrial salts have wide applications in various industrial sectors such as water treatment, de-icing, oil & gas, food processing, agriculture, and others. With increase in demand in these industries, the demand for industrial salt in the market is also increasing. In addition, the presence of large salt reserves is aiding the growth of the industrial salt market. The emergence of industrial salt as a cost-effective and inexpensive substitute of raw materials in chemical industries provides lucrative market opportunities for the global industrial salt market. According to Allied Market Research, the global industrial salt market is anticipated to grow at a significant CAGR from 2021 to 2030.

Salt has been used as a preservative and a tool for humidity control in several industrial sectors for almost thousands of years. Continual research is in process for the effective use of this natural resource. According to a recent study, it is found that salt is capable to resolve several critical issues of the supply chain of cannabis. The pathway from cure to consumption of cannabis is quite risky. During the production of medicinal drugs, it is important to prevent the cannabis from any degradation till it reaches safely to the manufacturing units. During the supply, the flowers in packaged containers can come in contact with air through gaps, which can lead to terpene loss and trichome degradation. Extreme humid conditions may contribute to mold growth in the flowers.

The relative humidity (RH) of the immediate surroundings directly affects the water activity of the cannabis. The high value of water activity may develop microbe and its lower can make the cannabis brittle and lose its potential. It is found that saturated salt solutions can help control accurate RH in cannabis containers. By releasing and absorbing water vapors from the immediate surroundings, salt can safeguard cannabis. According to ASTM International (formerly the American Society for Testing and Materials), for safe handling and storage of cannabis, its water activity should be in the range of 0.55 to 0.65. Jon DeVries, Ph.D., founder of JC DeVries & Associates, believes only saturated salt solutions can maintain constant RH over a significant range.

During the outbreak of Covid-19, there was a considerable decline in the industrial salt market.  However, increase in demand for cannabis in several industries and the expansion of industries having applications of industrial salt will fuel the market growth in the global industrial salt market. The largest operator of electrolyzers in Europe, Ineos subsidiary Inovyn is planning to expand its green hydrogen projects across Europe. Inovyn uses electricity, salt, and water in the production of caustic soda and chlorine and produces hydrogen as a by-product. The company’s maximum hydrogen production is as the by-product of its manufacturing process of ethane crackers and chloralkali. Inovyn is planning to invest more than $2.2 billion in the expansion of its green hydrogen project, which will further increase the demand for industrial salt in the market.

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