Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Burdekin Plum During Fruit Development

In recent years, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has been applied to non-destructively study tissue changes during fruit development. In this study, MRI was utilized to investigate the structural characteristics of the fruit of Pleiogynium timoriense (Burdekin plum) at four development stages. Fruits were imaged using structural, relaxation, and diffusion MRI acquisition protocols at 9.4T. Results showed that MR images can differentiate major fruit tissues including mesocarp, endocarp, and seeds. Diffusion tensor imaging was able to visualize the water transportation pathways of the fruit. Quantitative imaging results showed that T1, T2, T2*, and ADC maps obtained by MRI reflected the structural differences between major fruit tissues (mesocarp, endocarp, seeds). Their values changed during fruit development, especially during the early stages. T1, T2, T2*, and ADC of endocarp and seed reduced significantly (p < 0.05) from stage 1 to stage 2, while that of mesocarp increased significantly (p < 0.05) from stage 1 to stage 2. Principle component analysis showed that T1 changes in mesocarp were correlated to the water content, and T2 changes were correlated to the ADC. This study confirms the utility of MRI for measuring tissue changes non-invasively in Burdekin plum fruit development.