Editing Calcium hydroxide (section)

===Food industry===
Because of its low [[toxicity]] and the mildness of its basic properties, slaked lime is widely used in the [[food industry]],

* In USDA certified food production in plants and livestock<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.ams.usda.gov/sites/default/files/media/Lime%20Hydrated%20TR%202015.pdf |title=Hydrated Lime: Technical Evaluation Report |last=Pesticide Research Institute for the USDA National Organic Program |date=23 March 2015 |website=Agriculture Marketing Services |access-date=17 July 2019}}</ref>
* To clarify raw juice from [[sugarcane]] or [[sugar beet]]s in the [[sugar industry]] (see [[carbonatation]])
* To process water for alcoholic beverages and soft drinks
* To increase the rate of [[Maillard reaction]]s ([[pretzel]]s)<ref name="nordicfoodlab">{{cite web |last1=Borsook |first1=Alec |title=Cooking with Alkali |url=https://nordicfoodlab.org/blog/2015/08/cooking-with-alkali/ |website=Nordic Food Lab |date=August 6, 2015}}</ref>
* [[pickling|Pickle]] cucumbers and other foods
* To make Chinese [[century egg]]s
* In maize preparation: removes the cellulose hull of maize kernels (see [[nixtamalization]])
* To clear a [[brine]] of [[carbonate]]s of calcium and [[magnesium]] in the manufacture of salt for food and pharmaceutical uses
* In fortifying (Ca supplement) fruit drinks, such as orange juice, and [[infant formula]]
* As a substitute for [[baking soda]] in making ''[[papadam]]''
* In the removal of carbon dioxide from controlled atmosphere produce storage rooms
* In the preparation of mushroom growing substrates<ref>{{cite web |title=Preparation of Mushroom Growing Substrates |url=https://namyco.org/preparation_of_substrates.php |website=North American Mycological Association |access-date=8 July 2021}}</ref>

==== Native American uses ====
[[File:Nixtamalized Corn maize El Salvador recipe.jpg|thumb|left|Dry untreated maize (left), and treated maize (right) after boiling in water with calcium hydroxide (15{{nbsp}}ml, or 1{{nbsp}}tbsp, lime for 500{{nbsp}}g of corn) for 15 minutes]] In [[Nahuatl]], the language of the [[Aztecs]], the word for calcium hydroxide is ''nextli''. In a process called ''[[nixtamalization]]'', [[maize]] is cooked with nextli to become {{lang|es|nixtamal}}, also known as [[hominy]]. Nixtamalization significantly increases the bioavailability of [[Niacin (nutrient)|niacin]] (vitamin B<sub>3</sub>), and is also considered tastier and easier to digest. Nixtamal is often ground into a flour, known as ''[[masa]]'', which is used to make tortillas and tamales.{{cn|date=September 2023}}
Limewater is used in the preparation of maize for [[corn tortillas]] and other culinary purposes using a process known as [[nixtamalization]]. Nixtamalization makes the niacin nutritionally available and prevents [[pellagra]].<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/228453826 |title=Nixtamalization, a Mesoamerican technology to process maize at small-scale with great potential for improving the nutritional quality of maize based foods |last=Wacher |first=Carmen |date=2003-01-01 |journal=Food Based Approaches for a Healthy Nutrition in Africa |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180305202539/https://www.researchgate.net/publication/228453826_Nixtamalization_a_Mesoamerican_technology_to_process_maize_at_small-scale_with_great_potential_for_improving_the_nutritional_quality_of_maize_based_foods |archive-date=2018-03-05}}</ref> Traditionally lime water was used in [[Taiwan]] and [[China]] to preserve [[persimmon]] and to remove [[wikt:astringency|astringency]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hu |first=Shiu-ying |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/58840243 |title=Food plants of China |date=2005 |publisher=Chinese University Press |isbn=962-201-860-2 |location=Hong Kong |oclc=58840243}}</ref>{{Rp|page=623}}

In chewing [[coca leaves]], calcium hydroxide is usually chewed alongside to keep the [[alkaloid]] [[stimulant]]s chemically available for [[absorption (small intestine)|absorption]] by the body. Similarly, Native Americans traditionally chewed tobacco leaves with calcium hydroxide derived from burnt mollusc shells to enhance the effects. It has also been used by some indigenous South American tribes as an ingredient in ''[[yopo]]'', a psychedelic snuff prepared from the beans of some ''[[Anadenanthera]]'' species.<ref>{{cite journal |author=de Smet, Peter A. G. M. |title=A multidisciplinary overview of intoxicating snuff rituals in the Western Hemisphere |doi=10.1016/0378-8741(85)90060-1 |pmid=3887041 |journal=Journal of Ethnopharmacology |volume=3 |issue=1 |year=1985 |pages=3–49}}</ref>

====Asian uses====
Calcium hydroxide, locally known as ''chuna'', ''choona'' or ''soon'', is typically added to a bundle of [[areca nut]] and [[betel]] leaf called "[[paan]]" to keep the [[alkaloid]] [[stimulant]]s chemically available to enter the bloodstream via [[sublingual]] absorption.

''Choona'' is a key ingredient in [[Petha]], contributing to its characteristic crunchy and firm texture.

It is used in making ''[[naswar]]'' (also known as ''nass'' or ''niswar''), a type of dipping tobacco made from fresh tobacco leaves, ''Choona'', and wood ash. <!--[[calcium oxide]] plays an important role in making a ''naswar''.--> It is consumed most in the [[Pashtun people|Pathan]] diaspora, [[Afghanistan]], [[Pakistan]], [[India]] and [[Bangladesh]]. Villagers also use calcium hydroxide to [[Whitewash|paint their mud houses]] in Afghanistan, Pakistan and India.