Comparison of Maceration Methods for the Elemental Analysis of Porcine Ribs

Recent research in the fields of forensic and biological anthropology reveals that much can be gleaned from the elemental analysis of skeletal remains. This is a burgeoning area of analysis, however, and foundational studies on the elemental analysis of bones require representative remains, that is, de-fleshed bones from humans or animals. While manual de-fleshing can be straightforward, the precise cleaning of tissues from the bones requires more attention or the use of a maceration aid to break down flesh. Several maceration methods have been established that use detergent, enzymatic detergent, enzyme solution, heat, or invertebrates (specifically, flesh-eating beetles or Dermestes maculatus ) to de-flesh bones. These methods must be evaluated for potential chemical interference and effects on the bone matrix before they can be applied in the elemental analysis of skeletal remains. In this study, these maceration methods, as well as a “control” method that did not include the use of a maceration technique to aid in de-fleshing, were applied to a sample set of 54 porcine ribs. The effects of each maceration method on the bones’ chemical compositions were assessed using X-ray fluorescence (XRF), laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS), and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). The effects of each maceration method on the bones’ physical matrices were assessed using spectrophotometry and digital microscopy. Each maceration aid is found to result in bones that are chemically distinct from the control group, but invertebrate maceration produces bones that most resemble the control group when analyzed via LIBS or ICP-MS, while enzymatic maceration produces bones that most resemble the control group when analyzed via XRF.