Recipient Organization
CORNELL UNIVERSITY
(N/A)
ITHACA,NY 14853
Performing Department
Food Science
Non Technical Summary
Aluminum beverage cans are increasingly used by wine and cider producers, in part because of their greater sustainability as compared to glass or plastic. However, many producers have reported unpredictable decreases in product shelf life when using cans. The goal of this proposal is to develop tools for producers to predict the shelf-life of their products and to identify problematic components.
Animal Health Component
100%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
0%
Applied
100%
Developmental
(N/A)
Goals / Objectives
We hypothesize that appropriate conditions exist to allow prediction of defects (corrosion, H2S) in canned wines and ciders based on storage of coated aluminum coupons in wines at elevated temperatures. We further hypothesize that defect formation can be modeled from wine and cider composition. To evaluate these hypotheses, we propose the following research objectives:Identify and validate appropriate parameters for winery-appropriate accelerated aging tests that predicts corrosion and H2S formation during storage of canned wines and cidersDevelop and validate multivariate models for predicting corrosion and H2S formation in canned wines and ciders based on product composition.
Project Methods
Unless specified otherwise, all experimental conditions will be performed in duplicateFor Objective 1 ('Valid accelerated aging tests')In each year of the two-year study, a range of NY State wines and ciders (n =20) will be sourced from cooperating wineries and characterized for basic chemistry parameters (pH, TA, free and total SO2, ethanol). If necessary, addition of ethanol, acid, and/or SO2 may be performed to achieve a broader range of initial wine chemistries.For canning, 375 mL aluminum beverage cans with a liner recommended for wines and ciders will be provided by an industry cooperator (Ball Corp). Wines and ciders will be dispensed from kegs under CO2 and closed with a benchtop can seamer. At regular intervals, cans will be tested for O2 pickup using a handheld dissolved oxygen meter. Cans will be stored at 25° C for 6 weeks.For accelerated aging trials, wines and ciders will be stored in 20 mL amber vials in the presence of 1 cm x 1 cm aluminum coupons coated with a similar liner material as used in the cans (provided by an industry cooperator Sherwin-Williams). Vials will be purged with N2 and stored at two different elevated temperatures (35 and 50 °C) for 1 and 7 days.The extent of corrosion in products stored in cans and subjected to accelerated aging will be estimated by measuring dissolved Al by atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS) at the NYS Wine Analysis Lab and by visual inspection for blisters on the can interior. Production of H2S off-aroma will be determined using a gas detection tube method previously described by our group (Chen, et al AJEV 2017).To determine appropriate accelerated aging conditions (time × temperature) we will prepare regression plots of H2S formed in cans vs. H2S formed in each accelerated aging test. Similar regression analyses will be performed for corrosion data. The accelerated aging conditions that provide the best quantitative prediction of H2S and corrosion will be selected. This selection can be validated in the second year of the study.For Objective 2 ('Multivariate predictive models of defects in canned wine and ciders'),In each wine and cider, compounds reported to correlate with H2S formation and corrosion (copper; chloride; total polyphenols) will be measured.Compositional data from step i), along with ethanol, free SO2, total SO2, and pH values from Objective 1 will be used to generate multivariate predictive models of H2S formation and corrosion observed in canned wines and ciders in Objective 1.To evaluate the model validity, the experiment will be repeated in the second year of the study. As an additional validation step, a subset of wines and ciders which produce low H2S and corrosion during can storage will be adjusted with varying combinations of defect promoting components (e.g. through addition of copper and chloride). The observed increase in H2S and corrosion will be compared to the amount predicted by the model.