A Two-Dimensional Relaxation Study of the Evolving Microstructure in a Mixed Biopolymer Gel

It is shown that two-dimensional (2-D) T ₁–T ₂ relaxation spectra are sensitive to the changing microstructure in a model food system comprising water-in-water gelatin–agarose gelled emulsions. This 2-D relaxation–microstructure relationship suggests that T ₁–T ₂ spectra have the potential of acting as “fingerprint” molecular biomarkers of microstructure in complex water-rich biological systems and this has important future implications for in vivo magnetic resonance imaging studies of food digestion and of the changing structure of cancerous tissue.