Proton resonance imaging and relaxation in raw and cooked hen eggs

In-vivo proton magnetic resonance imaging and relaxation time measurements were carried out on raw and cooked eggs. The relaxation time measurements revealed several interesting results. While there was very little change in the T 1 values between the raw and cooked egg white, the T 2 values followed the decreasing trend expected of water becoming bound. However, both the CH 2 and CH 3 moieties of the yolk lipids registered a statistically significant increase in their relaxation times. The T 2 of the CH 2 group, in particular, increased by 113% in the cooked egg. No striking changes, however, were observed between the proton images of the raw and cooked eggs.