What Is NMR and How Does It Work?
Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) is the same technique as Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), which has been widely used in the medical profession for years to accurately image the human body. In addition, many industries quantify oils, fats and/or moisture with NMR. Traditionally, NMR has not been used for wet samples because water protons interfere with the measurement of fat protons. By combining the microwave drying capability of the SMART System5 with NMR, the technology can now be used to accurately measure fat content in almost any type of food product. A liquid or solid sample is dried to dissipate any hydrogen bound in the sample as water. Then, the NMR sends a pulse of radio-frequency energy through the sample, which causes the remaining hydrogen to generate a signal, known as Free Induction Decay (FID). The intensity of the FID can then be analyzed to determine the amount of fat protons present in the sample. Because fat protons decay more slowly than the other constituents in
