A Two-Dimensional NMR Relaxometry Method for Pork Fat Quantification

An accurate method for non-destructive quantification of pork fat content was investigated using two-dimensional inversion-recovery Carr-Purcell-Meiboom-Gill (IR-CPMG) pulse sequences in time-domain nuclear magnetic resonance (TD-NMR). Pork samples with varied fat contents were analyzed using CPMG, IR, and IR-CPMG sequences to map relaxation properties and distinguish fat and muscle signals, revealing better separation along the longitudinal (T1) axis. Prediction models showed IR-CPMG achieved the highest accuracy with coefficient of determination (R2) over 0.98. Validation against Soxhlet extraction resulted in R2 approximately 0.9894 agreement, confirming IR-CPMG matches the reference standard. Therefore, the proposed IR-CPMG TD-NMR technique provides a robust and precise solution for non-invasive pork fat content determination with potential for industrial quality control through its ability to resolve overlapping signals by jointly examining two-dimensional relaxation behavior, demonstrating continued NMR innovation can generate powerful analytical methods addressing important applications.