What is "maceration"

Maceration \Mac`er*a"tion\, n. [L. maceratio: cf. F. mac['e]ration.] The act or process of macerating.

late 15c., from Latin macerationem (nominative maceratio), noun of action from past participle stem of macerare (see macerate).

n. The act or process of macerate.

1. n. softening due to soaking or steeping

2. extreme leanness (usually caused by starvation or disease) [syn: bonyness, emaciation, gauntness]

Maceration may refer to:

• Maceration (food), in food preparation
• Maceration (wine), a step in wine-making
  • Carbonic maceration, a wine-making technique
• Maceration (sewage), in sewage treatment
• Maceration (bone), a method of preparing bones
• Acid maceration, the use of an acid to extract micro-fossils from rock
• Maceration, in chemistry, the preparation of an extract by solvent extraction
• Maceration, in biology, the mechanical breakdown of ingested food into chyme
• Pruning (maceration), in dermatology, the softening and whitening of skin that is kept constantly wet
• Maceration, in poultry farming, a method of chick culling

Maceration is the winemaking process where the phenolic materials of the grape— tannins, coloring agents ( anthocyanins) and flavor compounds—are leached from the grape skins, seeds and stems into the must. To macerate is to soften by soaking, and maceration is the process by which the red wine receives its red color, since 99% of all grape juice (with the exceptions of teinturiers) is clear-grayish in color. In the production of white wines, maceration is either actively avoided or allowed in very limited manner in the form of a short amount of skin contact with the juice prior to pressing. This is more common in the production of varietals with less natural flavor and body structure like Sauvignon blanc and Sémillon. For Rosé, red wines grapes are allowed some maceration between the skins and must, but not to the extent of red wine production.

While maceration is a technique usually associated with wine, it is used with other drinks, such as Lambic, piołunówka, Campari and crème de cassis, and also used to steep unflavored spirit with herbs for making herb-based alcohol like absinthe.

In food preparation, maceration is softening or breaking into pieces using a liquid.

Raw, dried or preserved fruit or vegetables are soaked in a liquid to soften the food and/or absorb the flavor of the liquid into the food.

In the case of fresh fruit, particularly soft fruit such as strawberries and raspberries, they are often just sprinkled with sugar (and sometimes a small amount of salt) then left to sit and release their own juices. This process makes the food more flavorful and easier to chew and digest.

Maceration is often confused with marination, which is the process of soaking foods in a seasoned, often acidic, liquid before cooking.

Some herbal preparations call for maceration, as it is one way to extract delicate or highly volatile herbal essences "cold" and thus preserve their signature more accurately.

Sometimes a cooking oil is used as the liquid for maceration – especially olive or some other vegetable oil.

Maceration is the chief means of producing a flavored alcoholic beverage, such as cordials and liqueurs.

Maceration of byproducts from food processing plants sometimes involves the use of a chopper pump to create a "blended" slurry of food waste and other organic byproducts. The macerated substance, which can be described as a protein-rich slurry, is often used for animal feed, fertilizer, and for co-digestion feedstock in biogas plants.

Maceration is a bone preparation technique whereby a clean skeleton is obtained from a vertebrate carcass by leaving it to decompose inside a closed container at near-constant temperature. This may be done as part of a forensic investigation, as a recovered body is too badly decomposed for a meaningful autopsy, but with enough flesh or skin remaining as to obscure macroscopically visible evidence, such as cut-marks. In most cases, maceration is done on the carcass of an animal for educational purposes.

Maceration, in sewage treatment, the use of a machine that reduces solids to small pieces in order to deal with rags and other solid waste. Also, macerating toilets, which use a grinding or blending mechanism to reduce human waste to a slurry, which can then be moved by pumping. This is useful when, for example, water pressure is low or one wishes to install a toilet below the sewer drain pipe.

Maceration can be achieved by using a chopper pump in the sewage lift station or at the wastewater treatment plant. It is sometimes referred to as a "rotary biological contacter process".