A method for identifying the chemical species of various textural elements in a targeted region of tissue wherein a volume of interest (VOI) is selectively excited and a k-encode gradient pulse is applied to induce phase wrap to create a spatial encode for a specific k-value and orientation. The specific k-value is selected based on anticipated texture within the VOI. Multiple sequential samples of the NMR RF signal encoded with the specific k-value are recorded as signal data. The Fourier Transform of the acquired signal data is then taken, wherein for each k-encode, the signal recorded is indicative of the spatial frequency power density at that point in k-space. Each peak in the NMR spectrum is then evaluated, whereby the relative contribution to the texture of tissue in the VOI at a k-value for each chemical species is determined.