Tm. Guiheneuf et al., MAGNETIC-RESONANCE-IMAGING OF MEAT-PRODUCTS - AUTOMATED QUANTITATION OF THE NMR RELAXATION PARAMETERS OF CURED PORK BY BOTH BULK NMR AND MRI METHODS, Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, 71(2), 1996, pp. 163-173
An integrated protocol has been developed for the automated acquisitio
n and processing of a set of magnetic resonance images which quantify
the spatial distribution of the T-1 and T-2 values, proton density (M(
0)) and magnetisation transfer (MT)-rate. That protocol has been valid
ated for homogeneous samples against 'bulk' NMR measurements using the
same experimental conditions, both at 2.35 and 7 Tesla. Application o
f that technology to pork cured in a brine solution shows that brining
affected the T-2 values and the apparent MT rates more significantly
than either the T-1 values, the M(0) values or the M(sat)/M(0) ratios.
The dependence of the NMR relaxation times on meat swelling induced b
y sodium chloride is also discussed.