Abstract

The Shroud of Turin is a large linen cloth bearing the full size image of a man with wounds corresponding to scourging and crucifixion. The molecular basis for the image on the cloth is unknown, although interestingly, the color only exists in a thin film on the fiber surface, less than 0.7 micrometers thick. In 2003, Rogers proposed that the Shroud image was the result of a Maillard reaction, involving interaction of free amines with reducing carbohydrates. Specifically, he suggested that a thin coating of crude starch and Saponaria residue on the surface of the cloth reacted with volatile amine-containing compounds arising from a body. Here, Rogers’ Maillard hypothesis is (re)examined with the consideration of additional, contributing factors in the possible creation of the Shroud image.

Keywords

linen cloth, Maillard reaction, shroud of turin, Sponaria