A novel technique for ice crystal visualisation in freeze-dried strawberry and jackfruit using X-ray micro-computed tomography

Abstract

X-ray micro-computed tomography (XMT) system, a novel technique which has been developed for visualisation of the two- (2-D) and three dimensional (3-D) ice crystal structures formed during freezing of strawberry and jackfruit. The system reconstructs all 3-D images based on a set of 2-D imaged obtained by multiple slicing of an X-ray shadow image. This study demonstrates the capability of the technique to characterize the ice crystal microstructure of strawberry and jackfruit after freezing at -20oC. Results are presented for the 2-D ice crystals formed within strawberry and jackfruit. The method requires freezing of the sample under -20oC and freezedried before scanning indicating ice crystal and internal structure of the strawberry and jackfruit at 1 cm depth. The dendrite spacing of ice crystals has been related to the freezing conditions of the strawberry and jackfruit