Water mobility in multicomponent model media as studied by 2H and 17O NMR

Molecular mobility of water was studied in a microbiological media containing complex and heterogeneous mixtures of cellulose, I-sorbose, and orange serum broth (OSB) using H-2 and O-17 high-resolution NMR. All mixtures showed Lorentian O-17 NMR spectra but complex H-2 NMR line shapes. Sorbose, when solubilized, caused line-narrowing where as cellulose-OSB mixtures showed wide peaks with flat plateaus. Presence of liquid or solvent water had a profound effect on a marked increase in T-2 relaxation time observed in sorbose-containing samples. O-17 NMR data were not composition dependent, while H-2 NMR data were highly sorbose dependent.