Skip to main content
ARS Home » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #186231

Title: THE USE OF MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING AND SPECTROSCOPY FOR EVALUATION OF MEATS

Author
item Mitchell, Alva

Submitted to: Journal of Magnetic Resonance
Publication Type: Book / Chapter
Publication Acceptance Date: 12/15/2005
Publication Date: 12/29/2006
Citation: Mitchell, A.D. 2006. Meat Quality. In: Chaughule, R.S., Rande, S.S., editors. Looking into living things through Magnetic Resonance Imaging. Chembur, Mumbai, India:Prism Publications. p. 127-139.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Meat quality is a function of many different processes that occur during the growth of the animal and after slaughter. It is important for the meat industry to be able to adequately assess the quality of meat before it is presented to consumers. The NMR properties of the chemical components of meat can be used to evaluate a number of parameters related to meat quality, including: the fat content and distribution, water content, water holding capacity, collagen content, pH, and metabolites such as lactate, glycogen, phosphocreatine and ATP. Both MRI and NMR spectroscopy have been used extensively to evaluate the composition and quality meat. NMR spectroscopy has been particularly useful in studying post-mortem metabolism and the resulting quality factors of pH and water distribution (water holding capacity). Advances in MRI techniques show promise for the application of MRI for determining the fat and lean content of certain cuts of meat and to assess meat quality in terms of intramuscular fat and collagen content.