title: Novel X-ray phase-contrast tomography method for quantitative studies  of heat induced structural changes in meat.
abstract: The objective of this study was to evaluate the use of X-ray phase-contrast tomography combined with 3D image segmentation to investigate the heat induced structural changes in meat. The measurements were performed at the Swiss synchrotron radiation light source using a grating interferometric setup. The non-destructive method allowed the same sample to be measured before and after cooking. Heat denaturation resulted in a 36% decrease in the volume of the muscle fibers, while solubilization of the connective tissues increased the volume from 8.4%to 24.9%. The cooking loss was quantified and separated into a water phase and a gel phase formed by the sarcoplasmic proteins in the exudate. The results show that X-ray phase contrast tomography offers unique possibilities in studies both the meat structure and the different meat component such as water, fat, connective tissue and myofibrils in a qualitative and quantitative manner without prior sample preparation as isolation of single muscle components, calibration or histology.
authors.forename: Rikke
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Miklos
authors.forename: Mikkel Schou
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Nielsen
authors.forename: Hildur
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Einarsdóttir
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Feidenhans'l
authors.forename: René
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Lametsch
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003238:Connective Tissue; D003296:Cooking; D006358:Hot Temperature; D006801:Humans; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional / Q000379:methods; D008460:Meat / Q000032:analysis*; D009124:Muscle Proteins / Q000032:analysis*; D009210:Myofibrils; D044367:Phase Transition; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000379:methods*; D014867:Water; D014965:X-Rays
chemical_list: D009124:Muscle Proteins; D014867:Water