X-ray diffraction studies of the crystallinity of bone mineral in newly synthesized and density fractionated bone

The crystallinity of bone mineral at different stages of maturation has been measured by quantitative X-ray diffraction methods. Crystallinity measurements were made on tibial mid-diaphyses from 17-day embryonic chicks, newly-formed periosteal bone from embryonic chicks, and density-fractionated bone from post-hatch chickens from 5 weeks to 2 years of age. For a given animal age and degree of mineralization, crystallinity increases with animal age, indicating that changes in bone mineral occur even after mineralization is complete or nearly complete.