NMR signal analysis to characterize solid, aqueous, and lipid phases in baked cakes

Proton mobility was studied in molecular fractions of some model systems and of cake using a 1H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) relaxation technique. For cake, five spinspin relaxation times (T2) were obtained from transverse relaxation curves: T2 (1) ≈ 20 μs, T2 (2) ≈ 0.2 ms, T2 (3) ≈ 3 ms, T2 (4) ≈ 50 ms, and T2 (2) ≈ 165 ms. The faster component was attributed to the solid phase, components 2 and 3 were associated with the aqueous phase, and the two slowest components were linked to the lipid phase. After cooking, the crust contained more fat but less water than the center part of the cake. The amount of gelatinized starch was lower in the crust, and water was more mobile due to less interaction with macromolecules. This preliminary study revealed different effects of storage on the center and crust.