Question:medium
A 30-year-old male dead body was brought to autopsy. The Dr notices greyish white waxy material with preserved facial features. Which is true of following change
A 30-year-old male dead body was brought to autopsy. The Dr notices greyish white waxy material with preserved facial features. Which is true of following change
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Greyish-white waxy "grave-wax" with preserved features = adipocere, formed by saponification of fat in moist conditions.
Updated On: Jun 22, 2026
- High temperature needed
- Hot & dry environment needed
- Starts very early after death
- It is a form of body preservation by saponification of fats
Show Solution
The Correct Option is D
Solution and Explanation
Definition-and-conditions approach.
Greyish-white, waxy, soap-like material with the facial features still recognisable is the textbook gross appearance of adipocere. The exam wants the single TRUE statement about it.
What adipocere actually is: a modification of putrefaction in which the subcutaneous and deep body fat is chemically converted into a firm, waxy substance composed of free fatty acids and their calcium/magnesium soaps. The defining chemical event is saponification - the conversion of fats into fatty acids and soaps - driven by bacterial lecithinase (Clostridium perfringens) and tissue lipases, with water (hydrolysis) being essential. This is precisely what statement $D$ says, so $D$ is the answer.
Testing each remaining claim against the known conditions for adipocere:
• It requires moisture/damp surroundings (bodies in water, wells, or wet graves), with a warm - not extremely high - temperature, so $A$ is incorrect.
• A hot and dry environment instead favours mummification (desiccation), the opposite preservative change, so $B$ is incorrect.
• The process is slow: appreciable adipocere needs about $3$ weeks to begin and months to spread through the body, so it does NOT start very early after death, making $C$ incorrect.
True statement: D - adipocere is body preservation by saponification of fats.
Greyish-white, waxy, soap-like material with the facial features still recognisable is the textbook gross appearance of adipocere. The exam wants the single TRUE statement about it.
What adipocere actually is: a modification of putrefaction in which the subcutaneous and deep body fat is chemically converted into a firm, waxy substance composed of free fatty acids and their calcium/magnesium soaps. The defining chemical event is saponification - the conversion of fats into fatty acids and soaps - driven by bacterial lecithinase (Clostridium perfringens) and tissue lipases, with water (hydrolysis) being essential. This is precisely what statement $D$ says, so $D$ is the answer.
Testing each remaining claim against the known conditions for adipocere:
• It requires moisture/damp surroundings (bodies in water, wells, or wet graves), with a warm - not extremely high - temperature, so $A$ is incorrect.
• A hot and dry environment instead favours mummification (desiccation), the opposite preservative change, so $B$ is incorrect.
• The process is slow: appreciable adipocere needs about $3$ weeks to begin and months to spread through the body, so it does NOT start very early after death, making $C$ incorrect.
True statement: D - adipocere is body preservation by saponification of fats.
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