XRT for visualizing microstructure of extruded meat replacers

Abstract

X-Ray Tomography (XRT) was used to visualize the microstructure of extruded meat replacers. The high moisture extrudates contained lamella, that became visible upon pulling the extrudate apart. In frozen state, these lamella could be visualized with XRT. The freezing increased the density difference between the water-rich and protein-rich layers, thus increasing the contrast obtained in the XRT. Differences in the physical structure were reflected in the measured structure. In non-frozen samples, no lamella were visible, indicating insufficient contrast.Because of the contrast obtained in frozen samples, we conclude that the XRT technique is a valuable addition to investigate extrudate structure, that can be used to quantify differences in extrudates obtained by for example variation in composition. Here we showed a higher lamella thickness for soy protein isolate (SPI) compared to more fibre-rich soy protein samples.