Molecular Starch Degradation and Their Fingerprints: Insights from Modern African Taxa

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Ancient starch analysis is a controversial technique, as the polymer’s chemical survivability over long periods of time is not understood. Our objectives are to establish the molecular composition of starch granules from sub-Saharan taxa of ethnobotanical relevance subjected to diagenetic processes, and to determine if these byproducts have diagnostic potential. Starch was placed into solution with an amino acid and reacted under heat and pressure in order to mimic diagenesis. The end stage of this process created melanoidins, stable high molecular weight compounds resistant to degradation. Fourier Transform Ion Cyclotron Resonance Mass Spectrometry (FTCIR-MS) was utilized to analyze the molecular composition of the products of this reaction. Laboratory degradation resulted in a range of compounds. Discrete chemicals are exhibited, varying in functional groups and cyclic structure. As the reaction progressed, more breakdown products and smaller compounds formed. These are more stable than their precursors, and it is expected that they might have increased survivability in archaeological time scales. The structure of melanoidins and other breakdown products have the potential to become fingerprints to identify the presence of starch in ancient contexts.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 25004