A MAGNETIC-RESONANCE-IMAGING TECHNIQUE FOR QUANTITATIVE MAPPING OF MOISTURE AND FAT IN A CHEESE BLOCK

Separate magnetic resonance images of water and fat of oil-in-water em ulsions and cheese blocks were obtained using the chemical shift selec tive suppression technique. With this technique, the proton signals em itted from water can be readily separated from those emitted from fat in the same sample through single experiment using magnetic resonance imaging. Relaxation compensation was made to improve the quality of su ppression. The experiment using oil-in-water emulsions demonstrated an excellent linear relationship between the intensity of the signal and the concentrations of water or fat. Images of a cheese slice showing only water or fat revealed that moisture distribution was less uniform than was fat distribution. Moisture contents determined by the magnet ic resonance imaging technique were very close to those obtained by th e oven-drying method.