Scott - Evaluation of eating quality attributes measured by TD-NMR

Summary

​In this report we summarise the experimental results obtained in this study, and review the strengths and weaknesses of the NMR time-domain instrument and measurements as a tool for predicting quality. The primary strengths are:

1. the measurement is non-destructive, non-invasive, and non-contact, meaning that a grading cut need not be made in the carcase for measurement, and also that potentially carcase surface fat layer thickness could be determined with the same tool as part of an automated process;
2. the measurement can be rapid and hence amenable to automation for application on the process-chain;
3. the magnetic field strength employed in the measurement is low, and can be generated by permanent magnets; through good design there should be little concern over safety in application;
4. the NMR hardware is robust, the electronics is compact, suitable for an industrial environment and potentially being mobile;
5. relaxometry provides mechanistic information on the structural organisation of water in muscle/meat, which is strongly related to important meat quality traits.

For example, the so-called transverse relaxation time is a tool for measuring the changes in water distribution in muscles post mortem and it can be used to track the water transfer processes leading to rigor mortis; indeed, the mechanistic understanding of the NMR data provides a strong incentive for its use in the direct determination of relevant meat quality parameters.

The method has benefits over other methods such as near-infrared and Raman spectroscopy in that NMR is a bulk, as opposed to surface, measurement and does not require a freshly prepared meat surface.