History of Inorganic Nitrates
摘要
Since ancient times, nitrates have been indispensable to human diet, life, medicine, and industry. They serve as food additives, including pickling salt and hair color agents, and can play a role in seasoning. They can also be used as fertilizer for crops, especially root crops such as beets and radishes, and as an accelerant and heat treatment agent for steelmaking, in aluminum alloy, and in the production of explosives. Traceable written records indicate that the medical application of nitrates in China has a history of more than 2000 years.