X-ray computed tomography to study processed meat microstructure

In this work, the X-ray microtomography (μCT) technique was used for the analysis of fat microstructure in five different types of Italian salami. Five different types of Italian salami, chosen to exhibit variability in terms of visible structure of fat, were used for this experiment: Milano, Ungherese, Modena, Norcinetto and Napoli. Appropriate quantitative three-dimensional parameters describing the fat structure were calculated, for example, the structure thickness (ST), object structure volume ratio (OSVR) and the percentage object volume (POV). To measure the accuracy of the three-dimensional parameter, POV, the fat content was also determined by the extraction method [AOAC, 1995. Official Methods of Analysis, 16th ed. AOAC International, Washington, DC]. The results for this study show that μCT is a suitable technique for the microstructural analysis of fat as it does not only provide an accurate percentage volume of the fat present but can also determine its spatial distribution.