Maceration
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Maceration (from Latin maceratus, past participle of macerare, "to soften") may refer to:
- Extreme leanness usually caused by starvation or disease
- Preparation of a solution by soaking plant material in vegetable oil or water
- The steeping of grape skins and solids in must, where alcohol acts as a solvent to extract colour, tannin and aroma from the skins, during wine fermentation, see maceration (wine)
- Reducing solids to small pieces as in sewage treatment where macerators are used as pre-treatment to deal with rags and other solid material
- The process to separate bone from flesh, by letting the tissue rot, see maceration (bone)
- In Biology, the breakdown of semi-solid food from the oral cavity into chyme, which is then moved to the small intestine for absorption and more digestion.
