SUGAR CONTENT MEASUREMENT IN FRUIT TISSUE USING WATER PEAK SUPPRESSION IN HIGH-RESOLUTION H-1 MAGNETIC-RESONANCE

Sugar content of muskmelon tissue was measured using 200 MHz H-1 magnetic resonance (MR). Single pulse resolved water and sugar resonances, but both were broadened. The sugar peak from low sugar (less-than-or-equal-to 8.0%) samples was not detectable with the single pulse. Selective saturation to suppress the water peak was inefficient. The T1 of water was almost twice that of sugar. Therefore, inversion-recovery (IR) pulse sequences could be applied for water suppression. Separation of the sugar peak was remarkably improved allowing its detection in low sugar (1.8%) samples. Measured sugar correlated linearly with peak intensity (r greater-than-or-equal-to 0.94). Results suggest that H-1 MR could be used to measure sugar in intact fruits and vegetables.