TRADITIONALSALT PRODUCTION IN GOA-INDIA ENRICHES DIVERSE MICROBIAL RESOURCE
(0) The paper reviews most of the results of an effort, to study the crude salt production units Salt pans ( Mitagor ) of Goa- India, located between 15° 44 30 N, and 73° 45 and 74° 26 E. Annually, local villagers construct Salt pans on stretches of low lying, inter-tidal wetland by draining off water, compacting the soil and dividing the area of the holding through low mud barriers/ walls, into a series of interconnected rectangular subunits which serve as a shallow soil -based -basins distinguished as : Collection- basin, Condenser -basin & Crystallizer- basin. At high tide, saline water from estuary flows through a sluice gate. Salt workers regulate the flow of water by plugging and de-plugging the communicating access between the shallow basins. Saline water evaporates, condenses to brine and eventually crystallizes to crude salt within the timed cycles of tidal - influx and tidal - efflux. Crystals from supersaturated brine are collected with the help of wooden devices, heaped up and marketed. Chemically crude salt is a mixture of NaCl (80 -85％); MgSO4,(2-3％), MgCl2, (2-3％). CaSO4 (0.8-1.5％ ) and 2.5 to 3.0 ppm of iodine per gram. The salt pan constructions are seasonal, the holding gets filled with monsoon-runoffs and remains submerged during the South-West- Monsoon. The studies of near two decades, reviewed herein indicate that the physicochemical process of recovery of salt (largely NaCl), through salt pans favors growth of micro-flora that develops against the back drop of sodium chloride gradients that range from sea water to crystalline salt, and sets up a unique, seasonal, transient, econiche , that harbors diverse retrievable microbial community of non-halophilic, euryhaline and halophilic: bacteria, cyanobacteria, and fungi besides the haloarchaea. The haloarchaea and cyanobacterial, either singly or as consortium exhibit high tolerance to heavy metals such as, Cd+2, Ni+2 , Fe+2, Mn+2 , Zn+2, Pb+2 & Cu, crude oil and constituent of hydrocarbons, are able to remove metals ions from saline waters, clarify industrial waste- waters, fix nitrogen, produce valuable pigments, enzymes, PHAs and bioactive molecules. In conclusion salt production in Goa - India, through salt pans, besides producing crude salt; provides a natural reservoir of biotechnological important microbes, therefore promote traditional salt production, through salt pans in Goa -India, and harnesses the benefits of microbial resources.
Sat-pans of Goa-India Crude-salt Microbial-resource
I.Furtado C.F.E.Fernandes
Department of Microbiology, Goa University, Taleigao Plateau, Goa- India.403206 Department of Microbiology, Goa University, Taleigao Plateau, Goa-India, 403206
国际会议
9th International Symposium on Salt(第九届世界盐业大会)
北京
英文
781-786
2009-09-05（万方平台首次上网日期，不代表论文的发表时间）