Influence of Two Innovative Packaging Materials on Quality Parameters and Aromatic Fingerprint of Extra-Virgin Olive Oils

Abstract

The performance of two innovative packaging materials was investigated on two Sardinian extra-virgin olive oils (Nera di Gonnos and Bosana). In particular, a transparent plastic film loaded with a UV-blocker (packaging B) and a metallized material (packaging C) were compared each other and to brown-amber glass (packaging A). During accelerated shelf-life tests at 40 and 60 °C, the evolution of quality parameters (i.e., acidity, peroxide value, K270, and phenolic content) was monitored, together with the aromatic fingerprint evaluated by electronic nose. Packaging B resulted in the best-performing material in protecting oil from oxidation, due to its lower oxygen transmission rate (0.1 ± 0.02 cm3/m2 24 h) compared to packaging C (0.23 ± 0.04 cm3/m2 24 h). At the end of storage, phenolic reduction was on average 25% for packaging B and 58% for packaging C, and the aromatic fingerprint was better preserved in packaging B. In addition, other factors such as the sanitary status of the olives at harvesting and the storage temperature were demonstrated to have a significant role in the shelf life of packaged extra-virgin olive oil.

Check-All-That-Apply (CATA) Test to Investigate the Consumers’ Perception of Olive Oil Sensory Properties: Effect of Storage Time and Packaging Material

“…Traditional studies on oil storage suggested that oil stored in stainless steel had better qualitative level (with significantly higher levels of phenols and lower values of the oxidative indices) than that stored in transparent clear and green colored glass [ 16 ] and that stainless and dark glass appeared to be the most adequate packaging materials compared to clear PET or clear glass [ 42 ]. However, recent studies suggest other innovative packaging materials with outstanding oxygen barriers (e.g., flexible PET with UV-blocker) can outperform glass in terms of quality parameters [ 14 ], suggesting the need to further explore the impact of new innovative solutions.…”

“…Several packaging materials have been studied for oils from olives, including glass, metals (tin-coated steel) and, more recently, plastics [ 12 ]. The literature provides numerous comparisons between different materials [ 6 , 7 , 10 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 ]. Glass is among the most commonly used material for oil packaging [ 8 , 10 ], as it is considered the first choice as an oil container because it is impermeable to water vapor and volatile organic compounds, and it can be given light-filtering properties [ 14 ].…”

“…The literature provides numerous comparisons between different materials [ 6 , 7 , 10 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 ]. Glass is among the most commonly used material for oil packaging [ 8 , 10 ], as it is considered the first choice as an oil container because it is impermeable to water vapor and volatile organic compounds, and it can be given light-filtering properties [ 14 ]. Metallic materials offer the advantage of total protection against light, oxygen and vapors but, since metal containers can initiate oxidative degradative reactions, current metallic material is tinplate or tin-free steel based on chromium instead of aluminum or aluminum alloys.…”

“…Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) is the most commonly used, with many advantages including clarity, chemical inertness, low oxygen and water permeability, and excellent mechanical properties [ 12 ]. PET was studied in different versions, including colored PET (clear, green, orange, white and blue) [ 4 ] or innovative plastic film added with UV-blocker has been recently tested [ 6 , 14 ]. From the environmental point of view, despite being mistakenly perceived as the ones with the highest carbon footprint if considering only the end-of-life perspective, plastic materials have some environmental advantages over other materials regarding the consumption of natural resources and emissions [ 18 ], and they are recyclable [ 14 ] as for glass and tinplate.…”

Sustainability of the Olive Oil System

“…An important key factor to address emerging challenges of sustainable food consumption is the reduction of the environmental footprint of packed food. Thus, the performance of two innovative packaging materials in protecting EVOO from oxidation phenomena was investigated by Farris et al [6]. In particular, a transparent plastic film loaded with a UV-blocker and a metallized material were compared to brown-amber glass during accelerated shelf-life tests at 40 and 60 • C. The transparent film emerged as the best-performing material to preserve EVOO quality.…”