Evaluation of shelf life of white wines in aluminium bottle: a modelling approach

Abstract

Aluminum is a particularly interesting material for packaging because it is environmentally sustainable, lighter than standard glass bottles, and protective against light radiation [1]. However, some interactions related to the use of aluminum containers are not fully understood, and further studies are needed to understand the effect of this material on the chemical-physical and sensory characteristics of wines [2]. The shelf-life of white wines bottled in aluminum bottles was studied in comparison to that of wines bottled in glass bottles. Three different wines of cv. Inzolia were used for this experiment. The shelf-life evaluation considered several compositional aspects of the wines, such as the volatile component (studied using GC-MS), the phenolic component (studied using HPLC-DAD and UV-Vis spectrophotometry), the metal concentration (studied through atomic absorption), the concentration of sulfur species with +4 oxidation state (via iodometric titration) and the sensory aspects (evaluated through sensory analysis) [3]. Tests were conducted at 20 °C and 40 °C, to simulate accelerated shelf-life, and wine samples were analyzed at three-month intervals. To obtain models useful for both evaluating the type of bottle and predicting the qualitative characteristics of the wines over time, various chemo-physical models were applied, such as chemical kinetics and empirical power-law models [4]. The results obtained after 191 days of testing allowed the observed kinetics to be described as pseudo-first-order for acetate esters, pseudo zero-order for the evolution of flavan compounds reactive to p-dimethylaminocinnamaldehyde, and pseudo-second-order for the evolution of sulfur species with an oxidation state of +4. Regarding the kinetic behavior of these compounds, no differences were observed in terms of half-lives. However, wines stored in aluminum tended to exhibit a more pronounced yellowing, as indicated by the CIELAB b* coordinate. Overall, aluminum proved to be a container comparable to traditional glass bottle.

References

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