NMR-cooking:: monitoring the changes in meat during cooking by low-field 1H-NMR

This report illustrates how pulsed low-field nuclear magnetic resonance (LF-NMR) can be used to investigate changes in food during processing, as the technique can non-invasively monitor the behaviour of the water in a product. LF-NMR data obtained during cooking of meat were utilised to identify important temperatures at which major changes in meat structure occur. It was found that a new water population is developed in meat as a result of cooking and a dual hypothesis is presented: The new water component can be either water expelled from the meat matrix or alternatively it can be water trapped in a myosin gel. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.