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amorphous coating

Cellulose fibers that make up the threads of the Shroud's cloth are coated with a thin carbohydrate layer of starch fractions, various sugars and other impurities. This chemical layer, which is thinner (200 to 800 nanometers) than most bacteria or the transparent glare-resistant coatings used on modern eyeglasses, is essentially colorless. However, in some places, the coating has undergone a chemical change that appears straw-yellow. This chemical change is similar to the change that takes place when sugar is heated to make caramel or when proteins react with sugar as in the making of beer. And it is the straw-yellow, selectively present in some parts of the carbohydrate layer, that makes up the image we see on the Shroud.

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Shroud of Turin Story

© 2005 Daniel R. Porter, Bronxville, New York