Lipidic compounds found in soils surrounding human decomposing bodies and its use in forensic investigations – A narrative review

Lipidomes in Cadaveric Decomposition and Determination of the Postmortem Interval: A Systematic Review

“…Nevertheless, it was not detected in the control samples. This agrees with other review studies reporting that sterols are of interest as markers for identifying burial areas or decomposition fluids [15]. Therefore, sterols can indicate the presence of decomposing matter and affirm that the compounds associated with the decomposition of a body can pass into the soil via leaching [22].…”

“…Adipocire [39] is formed from the degradation of the body's adipose tissue, and its composition is a mixture of SFAs and UFAs from the When a corpse is in contact with the ground, compounds generated during decomposition, including lipids, FA, and adipocere, could pass into it via leaching [45]. The soil easily adheres to clothing, the person, or can even remain on certain surfaces or materials, such as vehicles [15,45], making it an accessible sample. It should be noted that lipids and FAs are very stable and can remain for years in the corpse's remains and its surroundings.…”

“…Lipids and FAs have been detected in tissue samples taken from mummies [14]. Studies were also found where FAs can be found in the remains of a child from the late Roman period, such as myristic acid (C14:0), palmitic acid (C16:0), and stearic (C18:0) [15,46]. Therefore, due to the degradation process that postmortem lipids undergo and their good preservation over time, they are potential biomarkers for determining the PMI and burial places.…”

“…In decomposition, macromolecules (proteins, carbohydrates, and lipids) are degraded into their structural elements, such as phosphates and sugars, glucose, amino acids, and FAs [13,14]. The process of human cadaveric decomposition begins around 4 min after death occurs and can last up to months or years to reach complete skeletonization of the corpse [15], although, in the case of burials, the decomposition process can last between 15 and 25 years. This process is very complex and is influenced by various extrinsic and intrinsic factors, such as the environment in which the corpse is found.…”

The exceptional find of a Bronze Age votive bog offering of millet accompanied by a human sacrifice. Or was it the other way around?

“…All extracts of the analysed sediment samples were examined for various lipid groups to explore whether there are any speci c biomarkers indicating the presence of decomposing human adipose tissue, such as free fatty acids and their oxidative products or steroids (Bull et al, 2009;Lerchi et al, 2022;Queirós et al, 2023). Neither the total lipid extracts (TLEs) nor the neutral and acidic fractions of the TLEs revealed any signs of biomarkers which could be directly related either to adipocere formation or decomposing adipose tissue.…”