coated fiber

• 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 about as thick as the transparent scratch-resistant coatings used for eye glasses, is essentially colorless. However, in some places, the layer 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 giving beer its color. 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.

    For an explanation, see Chemistry of the Images.

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other questions

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