Mass spectrometry identification of the liquor contained in the plum vase excavated from Jurou Li’s Grave of the Jin Dynasty (1115–1234 CE) in Xi’an, Shannxi, China

Abstract

In order to accurately identify the ancient liquid contained in the plum vase excavated from Jurou Li's Grave of the Jin Dynasty (1115-1234 CE) in Xi'an, mass spectrometry was applied to determine the amino acid sequences of the residual proteins extracted from the liquid sample. The sequences were searched against a standard protein sequence database. The proteins extracted was identified as glycosyltransferase from Sorghum bicolor, calcium-dependent protein kinase 2 from Wickerhamomyces ciferrii, and cytochrome b-c1 complex subunit Rieske from Nadsonia fulvescens. These findings indicate that the extremely degraded liquid in the plum vase was made from the cereal of sorghum by alcoholic fermentation of Wickerhamomyces ciferrii and Nadsonia fulvescens, providing direct evidence for liquor in the Jin Dynasty.

A comparative study on the extraction effects of common agents on collagen-based binders in mural paintings

“…There are three common methods for protein identification, including proteomics [11][12][13][14][15][16], immunology [17][18][19], and amino acid analysis (AAA) [20,21]. It should be emphasized that extracting target proteins from paint matrix is a prerequisite for all these identification approaches.…”