3D tomography is a powerful tool to non-destructively characterise the microstructure of food under varying conditions.

The microstructure of food influences its perception during eating and is of crucial importance for manufacturing commercial food products.

Ice cream has a microstructure that changes dramatically in response to temperature variations. Food scientists using the Swiss Light Source wanted to follow the impact of warming and cooling conditions, like those commonly found in commercial freezers.

A non-destructive x-ray time-lapse study of ice cream showed that the ice crystals and air bubble microstructure exhibited significant coarsening when repeatedly warmed and cooled. This method can also be applied to the general study of random three phase materials.

References

3D-characterization of three-phase systems using x-ray tomography: tracking the microstructural evolution in ice cream
Pinzer BR, Medebach A, Limbach HJ, Dubois C, Stampanonibd M, Schneebelia M
Soft Matter. 2012;8:4584.
https://doi.org/10.1039/C2SM00034B