1Agriculture etAgroalimentaire Canada

Agriculture andAgri-Food Canada Canada

IMPROVING THE HANDLING, TRANSPORT AND

STORAGE CONDITIONS FOR WINE BIBs:

The impact of transport on wine shelf life?

IMPROVING THE HANDLING, TRANSPORT AND

STORAGE CONDITIONS FOR WINE BIBs:

The impact of transport on wine shelf life?

Gilles Doyon, P.Ag., Ph.D.

Food Research and Development Centre, 3600 Casavant West.Saint-Hyacinthe, QC. J2S 8E3.

Canada. doyong@agr.gc.ca

Performance BIB General Meeting, Larochelle, France, 27 nov. 2006

2Agriculture et Agriculture andAgroalimentaire Canada Agri-food Canada

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Introduction

The Bag-in-Box type (BIB) of wine packaging is gaining in popularity since 1995.The Province of Quebec has its own marketing particularity: the « Société des Alcools du Quebec » (SAQ).The SAQ controls the supply, quality and distribution of alcoholic beverages.11000 points of sale (POS) at Retail level.

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The Province of Quebec

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Introduction…Wine is sold through groceries, 3 and 4L, as well as bottles, convenient stores and SAQ’s own marketing chain.The Quebec territory is widespread and represents 1.5 M sq km.Much transportation, handling, loading and reloading are involved.Damages can be significant and there are complaints of poor shelf life.

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Introduction…The optimum shelf life: 10 – 12 months.Fatigue of the metallized polyester ( Met. Pet ) structure of BIB causes increased O2permeability ( Temperature influence ) and reduced quality.Is it possible to find a pre- selection test for films used in BIB to predict film / material damages?Are the valve and its neck need to be considered when assessing O2 permeation through the BIB?Improve re-cyclability is a must ( Al componant ).

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Introduction…There is a SAQ specification for total O2permeation: < 0,5 cm3/m2.day.unit ( 30oC).Doyon et al. (1995) have developed a glass capture cell to measure O2permeation of valves + necks.A new stainless steel capture cell was developed and tested and flex crack simulation by Doyon et al. ( 2005 ).

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Bag-in-box in coming…pre- filling

Seals

Verification

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Down the Conveyor into « Boxing »!?

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Bag-in-box, 4 L format

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StackingBIB intoboxes on pallets

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Loadingthe truck

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Filling in the Trailer Neat and Tidy!

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Proper Handling + Trained staff!!

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Storage at SAQ…and Retail Distribution

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On The Road Again…! Time…?$

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ObjectivesIdentify the localization of damages on the metallized polyester material on BIB that occur during transportation and distribution, and correlate with a standard method for mechanical damage: Gelbo Flex-cracking. Some predictions with a meaning?Design a new capture cell and a testing procedure for valve and neck with rapid set up capability under consideration?

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Materials and methods

Red wine from Vincor International Inc. (Marieville,Qc., Canada), in 4 L BIB format was collected after passing through 5 routes.There was a total of four loadings and four unloadings.Total distance covered ranged from 414 to 809 km, and age from 3 to 8,1 months.

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Bag-in-box film was placed on a fluorescent light source to highlight damages that occurred throughout distribution.Four samples, 10 cm X 10 cm were cut in each bag for measurement of oxygen permeation through the material.

Materials and methods

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Material to be Cut and Flexed, as well as Valve + neck ( couple ) to be tested

Seals

Verification

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Sampling, Bag-in-box- Examination

front back

valve

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Materials and methods…Oxygen transmission was measured with a Mocon Oxtran 10/50 (MN, USA) using 100 % oxygen at 23 and 30°C.

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Materials and methods…( New 2005 Oxtran 2/21, Mocon )

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Capture cell: principle

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Materials and methods…

A Gelbo Flex- cracking tester was used under controlled conditions (ASTM F392-93) to simulate material wear. The number of cycles were: 1, 50, 100, 125, 200 and 500.The new Capture Cell is composed of (1) top part, where N2 flows, and (2) bottom part, flushed with 100 % O2.

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Original Appearance of unused BIB material

Valve

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Results: Damage distribution, BIB

valve

front back

Leastdamages

Leastdamages

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Appearance of BIB material, route 1

Bottom

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Appearance of BIB material, route 1

Top

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Apperance of BIB material, route 5

Top

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Appearance of BIB material, route 5

Bottom

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Materials and methods : Gelbo

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Results and discussion

Although route 5 was shortest (414 km) it was longest in terms of storage time, or age (8,1 months). Highest O2permeation (4,99 cm3/m2.d.atm).

Visual inspection also revealed significant damage to the bags.

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Route 5 shortest + oldest

St-Hyacinthe Montreal

SherbrookeLongueuil

147 km

147 km

60 km

60 km

Total distance: 414 km; Age: 8,1 months

DMZE= 243cycles

TR= 4.99cc/m2 .d.atm. 30oC

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Routes 3 & 4

St-Hyacinthe Quebec city

La MalbaieLongueuil

200 km

149 km

400 km

60 km

Total distance: up to 809 km; Age: 3,2 months

DMZE= 116cycles

TR= 3.64 cc/m2 .d.atm. 30oC

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Routes 1 & 4

St-Hyacinthe Quebec city

Beauport Longueuil

200 km

10 km

260 km

60 km

Total distance: 530 km; Age: 3 months

DMZE= 43 cycles

TR= 2.45 cc/m2 .d.atm. 30oC

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Routes 3 and 4 were longest (809 and 606 km), but O2 permeation was lower with 3,63 and 3,65 cm3/m2.d.atm.Routes 1 & 2 versus 3 & 4: 530 km vs 809 km with 2,45 vs 2,64 cm3/m2.d.atm (little effect of distance).

Results and discussion…

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Results and discussion…

Back and front portion of BIB give similar results, except for route 5, where values are 0,54 cm3/m2.d.atm higher in the front portion.Top and bottom portion also give comparable results.

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Effect of induced flexures on permeation

Gelbo - Flex (number of cycles)0 100 200 300 400 500

Perm

eatio

n (c

m3 O

2/m2 ·d

·atm

) at 3

0°C

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

Y = (a + bx)1/2 r2 = 0,97**

Suggestedtest zone for pre-selection

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Results and discussion…There is a strong relationship between damages induced by Gelbo Flex wearing and O2 permeation.A square root type relationship is established between number of cycles and permeation.Routes 1, 2, 3 and 4: equivalent to 50 cycles or less; route 5 to nearly 250 cycles.

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Using the DZFE = Damage Zone Flexing Equivalencedemonstrated its good indicator of material damages and O2 ingress prediction.Road 1&2 had means of 43 cycles andRoad 5 close to 245 cycles.High sensitivity to handling of Met.Pet isdemonstrated.Major inceases from 0-30 cycles ( 350% ) andreduced rate from 100- 130 cycles ( 11% ).Global intake at 30oC of O2 is around 60:40% withrespect to Valve + neck versus the BIB unit.

Results and discussion…

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Results and discussion…

The stainless steel Capture Cell is very suitable for valve and neck O2 leakage determination.A comparison of valve alone (Trt 2) vsvalve + neck (Trt 1) indicates that 10 and 16 % of O2 permeation in valve + neck at 23 and 30°C, respectively, comes from the neck.

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Conclusions

O2 permeation of BIB increases with storage time, little influenced by transportation distance but AGE.No differences between top and bottom parts, neither between back and front (at the 5 % level).Damages to BIB mainly located near the edges and around the valve.

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Conclusions…Gelbo Flex-cracking between 50 and 100 cycles sufficient to simulate abuse testing conditions and evaluate metallized polyester performance.The new stainless steel Capture Cell is suitable for valve/neck testing, and has a very low cell mounting leakage. A significant portion of O2 permeation in valve + neck comes from the neck attachment.

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Conclusions…New materials andtests…?/!