Study Finds Food DNA On Shroud Believed To Have Wrapped Jesus Christ

A new scientific study has brought fresh attention to one of Christianity's most debated relics, offering insights into how it may have changed over time, reported NYPost.

Researchers recently identified food DNA on the Shroud of Turin, suggesting that the burial cloth believed to have wrapped Jesus Christ may have been contaminated over the centuries. 

In a preprint study published in March on bioRxiv, an international team analysed DNA traces from samples taken from the relic in 1978.

Scientists identified plant traces by sequencing microscopic DNA fragments found in dust and fibers collected from the cloth, rather than finding visible food remains. 

The analysis showed a wide range of species, with carrot and bread wheat being the most dominant.

Carrot, scientifically known as Daucus carota, accounted for about 30.9% of the identified plant DNA, and the study said that the DNA was closer to cultivated carrot varieties. 

Around 11.6% of the sequences were linked to Triticum aestivum, commonly known as bread wheat.

The study noted that other cereals found included durum wheat, einkorn wheat, maize, and rye. It further stated that horticultural crops included peppers, tomatoes, and potatoes, along with melons or cucumbers.

Researchers also observed a strong presence of peanuts, along with weaker traces of grasses such as ryegrass, bluegrass, fescue, oats, and clovers. Some of the identified species, including tomatoes, maize, and peanuts, are New World crops, indicating likely contamination after 1492.

The analysis also identified DNA from fruit trees, including banana, almond, walnut, and sweet orange, with weaker signals from fig, pistachio, apple, pear, hazelnut, and grapevine.

On the question of the cloth's age, the researchers said that its age cannot be determined through metagenomics because the method cannot provide strong evidence supporting either a medieval origin or a history dating back two millennia. 

They added that their findings make a novel and significant contribution by explaining the biological traces left through centuries of social, cultural, and ecological interactions. They also said that, taken together, the findings highlight important aspects of the Shroud's preservation history.

The researchers declined to comment further, noting that the final results have not yet been published.

The shroud, kept in Turin since 1578, has a recorded history starting in the mid-14th century. It has long been studied and debated. Radiocarbon dating carried out in 1988 placed the cloth between 1260 and 1390 AD.

In 2024, Italy's Institute of Crystallography reported that its analysis using wide-angle X-ray scattering produced results consistent with the relic being around 2,000 years old, in line with Christian tradition.

The study comes amid several recent discoveries related to ancient food. In December, archaeologists in Pompeii uncovered preserved food remains showing what enslaved people ate before the eruption of Mount Vesuvius eruption. 

In 2025, researchers in southern Oregon found starch granules that revealed how Native Americans processed food thousands of years ago.