Bread Yeast and Adipocere mitigation

Grave wax proliferation may be manageable. We have a hypothesis, as well as one proof of concept skull done. This is still very early, therefore there is lots of work yet to be done before something tangible occurs. If you want to help us test, get in touch with me. This skull was left in yeast for an excessive 3 days, and (likely) Serratia marcescens bacteria turned it red, then loosened the joints. It was degreased afterwards using Bare Bones. What matters at this stage is amount of grave wax compared to other coyotes, nothing else.

Grave wax (adipocere) may be partly caused indirectly by sugars in the bone marrow. In Carnivora, it is commonly observed that dogs and bears produce more adipocere. Bone marrow adipose tissue (BMAT) has insulin resistances (Pham et al, 2020 and Suchaki et al, 2020), resulting in a different glucose environment in the bone and even between different bones (Suchaki et al, 2020). Different diets impact the kinds of marrow being laid down inside of bone (Styner et al, 2014). Bears seasonally put on a huge amount of weight, which is consistent with increased BMAT.

Bacteria have enzymes that synthesize fatty acids, in particular stearic and palmitic acids, which stabilize triglycerides (animal fats) into adipocere (Takatori, 2001). Introduction of an anti-bacterial to the degreasing solutions may provide an obvious, but inadequate resolution. Some amount of maceration should continue throughout proper degreasing, aiding in the breakdown of the non-lipid elements of marrow, rendering anti-bacterials unideal.

Bacteria commonly target glucose as a food source. Throttling bacterial growth by eliminating excess glucose may work. Glucose is hard to break down except with heat and enzymes. Enzymes may be expensive or hard to manage and obtain, and heat will damage collagen. The simplest way to handle glucose could be a round of yeast treatment between maceration and degreasing.

Bread yeast is available, cheap and works fast. It generates heat, the upper limit being dangerous to collagen. It may only take a few hours to eliminate glucose within the skull. A by-product is ethanol, which is a solvent of animal fats. One proof of concept skull has been produced so far that appears to have less adipocere compared to other coyote skulls.

References

Pham, T. T., Ivaska, K.K., Hannukainen, J.C., Virtanen, K.A., Lidell, M.E., Enerback, S., Makela, K., Parkkola, R., Piirola, S., Oikonen, V., Nuutila, P., and Riku Kirviranata. (2020). Human bone marrow adipose tissue is a metabolically active and insulin-sensitive distinct fat deposit. The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism. 105(7), 2300-2310. doi: 10.1210/clinem/dgaa216

Styner, M., Thompson, W.R, Galior, K., Uzer, G., Wu, X., Kadari, S., Case, N., Xie, Z., Sen, B., Romaine, A., Pagnotti, G., Rubin, C.T., Styner, M.A., Horowitz, M.C. and Rubin, J. (2014). Bone marrow fat accumulation accelerated by high fat diet is suppressed by exercise. Bone. 64, 39-46. doi: 10.1016/j.bone.2014.03.044

Suchacki, K.J., Tavares, A.A.S., Mattiucci, D., Scheller, E.L., Papanastasiou, G., Gray, G., Sinton, M.C., Ramage, L.E., McDougald, W.A., Lovdel, A., Sulston, R.J., Thomas, B.J., Nicholson, B.M., Drake, A.J., Alcaide-Corral, C.J., Said, D., Poloni, A., Cinti, S., Macpherson, G.J., Dweck, M.R., Andrews, J.P.M., Williams, M.C., Wallace, R.J., van Beek, E.J.R., MacDougald, O.A., Morton, N.M., Stimson, R.H. and Cawthorn, W.P. (2020). Bone marrow adipose tissue is a unique adipose subtype with distinct roles in glucose homeostasis. Nature Communications. 11(3097). doi: 10.1038/s41467-020-16878-2

Takatori, T. (2001). The mechanism of human adipocere formation. Legal Medicine (Tokyo). 3(4) 193-204. doi: 10.1016/s1344-6223(01)00036-0