Table 3.
Transverse relaxation times (T2i, i = [b, 1, 2]) and apparent proton populations (A2i,) obtained through multi-exponential fitting of the LF-NMR relaxation data for the fresh and frozen lamb meat samples (mean ± standard deviation; n = 18 for fresh, n = 20 for frozen).
| Parameters | Fresh, n = 18 | Frozen, n = 18 | SEM 1 | p-Value 2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Translational relaxation parameters | ||||
| T2b (ms) | 13.6 ± 6.9 | 12.1 ± 8.8 | 1.92 | 0.5972 |
| T21 (ms) | 48.7 ± 4.3 | 41.0 ± 4.3 | 1.05 | <0.0001 |
| T22 (ms) | 224.1 ± 89.3 | 105.5 ± 20.4 | 15.8 | <0.0001 |
| Water population within muscle sample | ||||
| A2b (%) | 9.1 ± 7.5 | 9.0 ± 14.5 | 2.80 | 0.9657 |
| A21 (%) | 81.5 ± 7.2 | 78.0 ± 13.2 | 2.59 | 0.3549 |
| A22 (%) | 9.4 ± 2.1 | 13.0 ± 3.9 | 0.75 | 0.0029 |
1 Standard error of the mean. 2 Differences considered significant at p < 0.05 and tending towards significance at 0.05 < p ≤ 0.10.