Sugar Content Measurement in Fruit Tissue Using Water Peak Suppression in High Resolution 1H Magnetic Resonance

ABSTRACT Sugar content of muskmelon tissue was measured using 200 MHz 1H magnetic resonance (MR). Single pulse resolved water and sugar resonances, but both were broadened. The sugar peak from low sugar (≦8.0%) samples was not detectable with the single pulse. Selective saturation to suppress the water peak was inefficient. The T1 of water was almost twice that of sugar. Therefore, inversion‐recovery (IR) pulse sequences could be applied for water suppression. Separation of the sugar peak was remarkably improved allowing its detection in low sugar (1.8%) samples. Measured sugar correlated linearly with peak intensity (r≧0.94). Results suggest that 1H MR could be used to measure sugar in intact fruits and vegetables.