Food

Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Relaxation Analysis to predict
non-invasively and non-destructively salt-to-moisture ratios in dry-cured meat

Uno “sguardo” dentro i Mezzi Porosi mediante Immagini a Risonanza Magnetica (MRI)

Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Relaxation Analysis to predict
non-invasively and non-destructively salt-to-moisture ratios in dry-cured meat

The current systems are unable to control and predict the cured meat composition non-destructively and in a reasonable time for production needs. In this work T₁ and T₂ maps were obtained on internal sections of muscle Longissimus dorsi at increasing salting times. The maps allow one to visualize non-destructively and non-invasively the salting process. The method goes beyond the simple qualitative visualization, because for each section of the sample and in any region of the section, it is possible to obtain quantitative information on the progress of salting, and to predict salt-to-moisture ratios. Relaxation measurements were performed on cores sampled after imaging in order to better define the relaxation properties of the dry-cured meat.

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