Label-Free Optical Investigation of Structural and Thermal Changes in Fat and Lean Beef Under Frozen Storage
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: We evaluated the microstructural and thermal stability of beef fat and lean meat tissue over 56 days of household frozen storage (-18°C) using Brillouin spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC), and Fluorescence Lifetime Imaging Microscopy (FLIM). Mechanical stiffness represented by Brillouin shift values ($\Delta \nu$) and Brillouin line FWHM values ($\Gamma$), and thermal metrics ($\Delta H$,$T_{m}$) of fat and lean meat samples remained within experimental uncertainty ($\pm \ \text{0.2}\,\text{GHz}$;$p>0.05$) throughout storage. While Raman spectra showed minimal chemical contrast between tissue types, autofluorescence lifetime constants ($\tau _{1}$,$\tau _{2}$) and Brillouin shifts enabled robust, label-free mechanical discrimination of fat versus lean meat domains. Compression and acetone treatments confirmed the techniques' sensitivity. These results demonstrate that common home-freezing preserves beef tissue microstructure and fat thermal behavior over two months, and that combined optical and calorimetric methods offer a non-destructive framework for meat quality assessment.
Authors: Sujeong Jung, Vsevolod Cheburkanov, Mykyta Kizilov, Vladislav V. Yakovlev
Institution: Texas A&M University
Language: English
Subfield: Biophysics
Domain: Life Sciences
SDG: Zero hunger
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W4417170270