Why sumashi-jiru becomes white when adding salt?
To avoid humidity they add 0,4 percentage carbonic magnesium to salt. Its atoms do not dissolve completely and that is way sumashi-jiru turns white.

Why the water runs away from the cucumber when it is salted?
The living tissue and the cell membrane are "semi permeable". Thus the water penetrates through the cell membrane, but the molecules of such substances as salt, sugar etc. do not penetrate at once. If vegetables are salted or set in the dense brine, the water runs away and vegetables become faded.

Why do season in turn "Sa (sato, sugar), Shi (shio, salt), Shu (shu, vinegar), Se (shoyu, soy sauce), So (miso)"?
When the solutions that have different concentrations meet, they cooperate to balance the concentrations of each side. The water passes from the low concentration solution to the high one. And sugar, vice versa, from the high concentration solution to the low one.
Salt (shio) has a high dissolubility in water and a high penetrability. It penetrates into products faster then sugar.
Sugar (sato) - if there is salt in a product then it penetrates quickly and prevents sugar penetration. If salt and sugar are added at the same time, salt penetrates faster.
Vinegar (shu) acetic acid evaporates during the heating. The smell disappears because of warmness as well.
Soy sauce (shoyu) and miso. It is valued the aroma of these seasonings. Therefore it is added after stopping the heat.

Why do cookers add salt when boiling green?
The real reason of the green color of vegetables is chlorophyll. It doesn't dissolve in water, but withstand badly heating. Though when it boils again it fades and turns brown. An addition of salt help chlorophyll stabilizing green color and prevents discoloring.

Why do peeled apple not discoloring during storing in the brine?
Vegetables and fruit contain several types of chemical compounds. These chemical compounds acidify in air and turn into melanin (brown material). Therefore an apple turns brown when it is set-aside after peeling. Salt prevents actions of oxidative ferments. Therefore an apple does not turn brown and its taste remains tasty.

Why does a watermelon turn sweet when adding salt?
When you feel two different tastes at the same time, one or both tastes increase the taste of the other. This phenomenon is called the effect of contrast of the taste. Watermelon turns sweeter when salting it. This is due to the effect of contrast between sweet and salty taste.

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