An MRI method for monitoring the ripening of Grana Padano cheese

In this paper, we propose a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) method for assessing the ripening stage of Grana Padano, one of the most appreciated long-ripened hard cooked Italian cheeses. The method is based on a combination of MRI analysis with a study of multi-component transverse relaxation (T-2) distributions. Three different ripening stages (12, 16 and 20 months) were considered and, for each stage, three samples were investigated (for a total of nine samples). The relaxation profiles of differently ripened Grana Padano cheeses varied in terms of area fraction relative to the three observed components of T-2 relaxation. In particular, a good linear relationship was observed between the area fraction of the first T-2 population (mainly constituted by water protons in chemical exchange with labile protein protons) and the months of ripening. The proposed method might have a general validity for different kinds of cheese. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.