Screw Cap Closure Research Articles

Influence of Vibration on the Consumption of Oxygen and Sulfur Dioxide in Wine Bottles Considering Bottle Position and Headspace Volume

This study investigates the influence of vibration, bottle position, and initial headspace volume on the oxygen (O₂) distribution inside a wine bottle. For this purpose, 0.75-L wine bottles were filled with a model wine and stored either horizontally or vertically under different vibration intensities (no vibration, 500 mm/sec², and 1000 mm/sec²) at a constant frequency of 50 Hz. The bottles were sealed with screwcap or cork closure, with two headspace volumes for each type of closure. Our results indicated that vibration and horizontal bottle position promoted the dissolution of O₂ from the headspace of the bottle into the wine, causing accelerated sulfur dioxide (SO₂) degradation. The effect of vibration was larger in the horizontally stored bottles, indicating that a larger wine surface area promotes O₂ uptake into the wine. In the absence of headspace O₂, vibration and bottle position showed no influence on SO₂-related O₂ degradation. Furthermore, the dissolution of O₂ was faster in bottles with cork closure than in those with screwcap closure due to overpressure caused by the corking process. We concluded that vibration and horizontal bottle position have major effects on the dissolution of O₂ from the headspace of the bottle into the wine, but not on the chemical reaction of the dissolved O₂ with SO₂. The larger surface area of wine contacting the headspace in the horizontally stored bottles and the overpressure created by the corking process accelerate O₂ uptake from the bottles’ headspace into the wine.

Collaborating to shape markets: Emergent collective market work

Research into ‘market-shaping’ – the deliberate shaping by firms and other actors of market behavior, structures, expectations and practices – has primarily taken either system-level or micro-level practice perspectives. Instead, this research focuses on ‘collective market work’ – the orchestrated purposeful actions of a collaboration to shape a market. In synthesizing the social emergence paradigm and the institutional work framework, this study examines the different types of market work undertaken as a meso-level collective evolves. Drawing on primary and secondary data, this paper explores the historic case of a collaboration by small New Zealand wineries to gain acceptance of the screwcap closure on premium wine in the early 2000s. We find collective market work travels through three stages: ‘coalescing,’ ‘legitimizing,’ and ‘using market clout.’ Each stage functions as an intermediate frame within the market system, progressively enabling and emboldening the collaborators to take action and impact increasing numbers of larger actors and market gatekeepers.

Information and involvement: the influence on the acceptance of innovative wine packaging

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to show that consumer education in the form of information can effectively overcome adoption barriers to new and innovative wine packaging. This effectiveness depends on both the degree in packaging innovation and the level of consumer involvement.Design/methodology/approachThe paper is based on an online experiment conducted with a sample of 427 German consumers to analyse the perception of consumers about innovative packaging. The experiment featured three different packaging options: bottles with screw-cap closures, bag-in-box and StackTek®. For each packaging form, a treatment group with additional information about the packaging and a reference group without this information were surveyed. ANOVA and t-tests were carried out to test the hypotheses. A moderated regression analysis was used to examine the effect of involvement in combination with information on intention to buy.FindingsThe results revealed that low-involvement consumers react positively to additional information about the benefits of a new packaging. For highly involved consumers, however, the effect of information is not significant. Furthermore, the analysis showed that low-involvement consumers mainly buy wine in supermarkets.Practical implicationsInformation about new packaging forms should be presented in places where low-involvement consumers buy wine, such as at supermarkets. These consumers can be influenced by the additional information about the innovative packaging.Originality/valueThe use of a moderated regression analysis in the context of wine packaging and involvement is a first and reveals new and valuable insights.

Uncorking knowledge- purposeful spillovers as a strategic tool for capability enhancement in the cork industry

There is a growing body of research linking knowledge spillovers to strategic entrepreneurship in multiple contexts, yet the existence of purposeful spillovers has been largely ignored. This study analyses the value-accretive potential of knowledge spillover strategies, where a selected body of knowledge is purposefully and strategically disclosed to competitors. The cork industry provides the empirical context, with the many small firms possessing limited innovation capabilities in an industry under threat from rival alternative technologies. The successful fight-back against the onslaught on cork by synthetic and screwcap closures is led by the Portuguese company Corticeira Amorim, the world’s largest stopper manufacturer, whose knowhow then selectively spills-over to the rest of the industry. This multiple-case study involving 14 firms, unfolds in the context of two layers of underlying tensions. By exploring why and how knowledge selectively spillovers across filters from the industry leader to others, and knowledge revealing within small firms, the study contributes to extant literature by extending to the phenomenon of selected and purposeful spillover in the context of capability enhancement.

Labware, Lab Supplies, and Microplates

Labware, Lab Supplies, and Microplates

Impact of Dissolved Oxygen at Bottling on Sulfur Dioxide and Sensory Properties of a Riesling Wine

A Riesling wine was bottled with different levels of dissolved oxygen and sealed with two different coextruded and one screw cap closure in order to investigate the impact of dissolved oxygen and of closure oxygen transfer rate on wine evolution. Dissolved oxygen introduced at bottling influenced sulfur dioxide decline during bottle storage, and especially during the first three months. However, the loss of sulfur dioxide was more strongly correlated with the total amount of oxygen consumed by the wine rather than with the evolution of dissolved oxygen. Closure oxygen transfer rate also influenced sulfur dioxide loss and this effect became more important with time in the bottle. Although closure was an important factor influencing sensory attributes of bottled wine, within each closure, dissolved oxygen accounted for significant differences across the wines. Wines bottled with high dissolved oxygen showed significantly higher ratings for oxidation, confirming the influence of dissolved oxygen management on the evolution of wine over time.

The Combined Effects of Storage Temperature and Packaging on the Sensory, Chemical, and Physical Properties of a Cabernet Sauvignon Wine

A Californian Cabernet Sauvignon was stored for 6 months at three different constant temperatures to study the combined effects of storage temperature and packaging configuration. Glass bottles with natural cork, synthetic cork, and screw cap closure, as well as two Bag-in-Box treatments, were used in the experiment. A trained sensory panel was able to detect significant changes in aroma, flavor, taste, mouthfeel, and color attributes among the samples, differences that were found also with various chemical and physical measurements (volatile profile, polyphenol pattern, enological parameters, color space). Additionally, two commonly used polyphenol assays were compared to each other in terms of their ability to detect the changes in the polyphenol profile. Generally, sample changes were more pronounced due to the different storage temperatures, with 30 sensory attributes differing significantly among the three different storage temperatures, while only 17 sensory attributes showed a significant packaging effect. With increasing storage temperature the packaging effect became more pronounced, resulting in the largest changes in the Bag-in-Box samples stored at the highest temperature of 40 °C. At the highest storage temperature, all wines showed oxidized characters, independent of the wine packaging configurations, but to a varying degree. Generally, wines that received highest oxygen amounts and storage temperatures were much lighter, less red, and more brown-yellow at the end of the 6-month storage period, compared to their counterparts stored at 10 °C. These changes in color and polyphenols, respectively, were also detected with the two spectrophotometric assays. With increasing storage temperature both assays measured reduced concentrations in total phenols and total anthocyanins, while total tannins, degree of ionized anthocyanins, and color density increased. Various volatile compounds differed significantly among the samples, with largest relative concentration changes in acetates, organic acids, and alcohols, in good agreement with previous literature reports, with some being well correlated to specific sensory attributes too; for example, various acetates correlated to cherry and fruit aromas and flavors. The study shows that storage at elevated temperatures could be a valuable tool for wine packaging screening and testing new and improved wine packaging types under the worst conditions, which are unfortunately not unrealistic.

The effect of wine closures on volatile sulfur and other compounds during post‐bottle ageing

ABSTRACTThe effect of wine closures on volatile composition during post‐bottle ageing was investigated for Pinot Noir and Chardonnay wines. Natural cork, synthetic cork and screw caps with Saran–tin, Saranex and low density polyethylene (LDPE) liners were investigated over 3 years of storage. Dissolved O2 and SO2 as well as colour were monitored. Volatile sulfur compounds, esters, terpene alcohols, and C13‐norisoprenoids were quantified every 6 months over 3 years. The results showed that the LDPE screw cap gave the highest dissolved oxygen, lowest free SO2 and total SO2 in both wines, while the Saran–tin screw cap gave the lowest dissolved oxygen and the highest free SO2 and total SO2. A decrease of H2S, methanethiol, and thioacetates were observed during the 3 year ageing process for both wines, and their concentrations decreased most in wines sealed with LDPE screw caps and synthetic closures. The decrease of thioacetates was independent of closure type. The accumulation of dimethyl disulfide during storage was not obvious in these two wines. For both wines, no elevated sulfur compounds under any closure were detected; neither dimethyl disulfide nor dimethyl trisulfide were found in any of the experimental wines. Other volatiles also changed with in bottle ageing. Ethyl esters decreased during ageing, whereas ethyl 2‐methylbutanoate and ethyl 3‐methylbutanoate increased during ageing. Terpene alcohols showed a decreasing trend with ageing, as was β‐damascenone, but β‐ionone remained unchanged in Pinot Noir wine during ageing. Both wines under LDPE closure had the highest acetaldehyde at 36 months of ageing. Wine closure affected the concentration of terpene alcohols and C13‐norisoprenoids. Closure had no impact on nerolidol and citronellol, but LDPE screw‐capped wine had lower concentrations of linalool at 36 months of storage. Both wines with LPDE screw cap closures had higher β‐damascenone. Closure had no effect on β‐ionone and other compounds. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Pressure, O2, and CO2, in aquatic Closed Ecological Systems

Pressure increased during net photosynthetic O2 production in the light and decreased during respiratory O2 uptake during the dark in aquatic Closed Ecological Systems (CESs) with small head gas volumes. Because most CO2 will be in the liquid phase as bicarbonate and carbonate anions, and CO2 is more soluble than O2, volumes of gaseous CO2 and gaseous O2 will not change in a compensatory manner, leading to the development of pressure. Pressure increases were greatest with nutrient rich medium with NaHCO3 as the carbon source. With more dilute media, pressure was greatest with NaHCO3, and less with cellulose or no-added carbon. Without adequate turbulence, pressure measurements lagged dissolved O2 concentrations by several hours and dark respiration would have been especially underestimated in our systems (250–1000ml). With adequate turbulence (rotary shaker), pressure measurements and dissolved O2 concentrations generally agreed during lights on/off cycles, but O2 measurements provided more detail. At 20°C, 29.9 times as much O2 will distribute into the gas phase as in the liquid, per unit volume, as a result of the limited solubility of O2 in water and according to Henry’s Law. Thus even a small head gas volume can contain more O2 than a larger volume of water. When both dissolved and gaseous O2 and CO2 are summed, the changes in Total O2 and CO2 are in relatively close agreement when NaHCO3 is the carbon source. These findings disprove an assumption made in some of Taub’s earlier research that aquatic CESs would remain at approximately atmospheric pressure because approximately equal molar quantities of O2 and CO2 would exchange during photosynthesis and respiration; this assumption neglected the distribution of O2 between water and gas phases. High pressures can occur when NaHCO3 is the carbon source in nutrient rich media and if head-gas volumes are small relative to the liquid volume; e.g., one “worse case” condition developed 800mmHg above atmospheric pressure and broke the glass container. Plastic screw cap closures are likely to leak at high pressures and should not be assumed to seal unless tested at appropriate pressures. Pressure can be reduced by having larger head-gas volumes and using less concentrated nutrient solutions. It is important that pressure changes be considered for both safety and closure, and if total O2 is used as the measure of net photosynthesis and respiration, the O2 in the gas phase must be added to the dissolved O2.

A New Twist on Tradition: Selling the Experience to U.S. Wine Consumers

ABSTRACT The design of the wine package is considered by most consumers to be a direct reflection of the quality of the wine. The emergence of alternative wine closures has grown mainly in response to quality control efforts by winemakers to protect against cork failure. However, with the introduction of screw cap closures nearly 40 years ago, the wine world has experienced an upheaval in what is the appropriate style of closure to use. Telephone interviews assessing attitudes to alternative closures amongst winemakers and sommeliers were conducted. The results indicated that many winemakers are not yet comfortable with screw caps and sommeliers are reluctant to create a disturbance that consumers might not completely understand.

Effects of Wine Bottle Closure Type on Consumer Purchase Intent and Price Expectation

The effects of natural cork, synthetic cork, and screwcap closures on the purchase intent and price expectation of wine consumers was examined for two commercial wines, a Chardonnay and a Merlot. Consumer purchase behavior was measured in a taste survey where participants tasted and rated the wines twice: once when the closure information was not known and a second time when the closure information was revealed. Causal effects were evaluated for impact on purchase behavior when the closure information was revealed using ordinary least squares regression, logistic regression models, and path analysis. Liking rating for the wine was the most important variable to impact purchase intent. The effect of liking on purchase intent was positive where there was ~10% higher probability of buying the wine for a 1-unit increase in liking rating; type of closure had only limited impact on purchase intent. The results for price expectation are different than for purchase intent in that liking did not impact expected price; quality had the greatest impact. For the expected price models, results indicated that consumers expected to pay significantly less for a bottle with a screwcap for both wines. The significant negative effect of the screwcap on expected price relative to synthetic and natural corks indicated a direct negative effect. However, the positive correlation of natural cork and negative correlation of screwcap with quality rating indicated that closure type also impacts expected price indirectly through consumer perception of quality.

Effects of Bottle Closure Type on Consumer Perceptions of Wine Quality

The effects of natural cork, synthetic cork, and screwcap closures on wine consumer perceptions of the quality of commercial wines bottled for 33 months were examined in two experiments. The first determined that wine consumers could not detect sensorial differences between Chardonnay and Merlot wine samples sealed with the three closure types. The second measured if and how consumer wine-quality perceptions changed based on the type of closure used to seal the wine. Wines were presented twice to the same consumers: first when the closures were not revealed and second when each wine closure was revealed. For the Chardonnay samples, the knowledge that the wine was sealed with a natural cork did not significantly affect the liking or quality scores. However, when participants knew that the sample was bottled with a synthetic cork, the liking score tended to be lower and the difference was nearly significant, but quality ratings did not change. When participants learned the wine had a screwcap, both the liking and quality ratings were significantly lower. For the Merlot samples, there was no change in liking scores for any of the closures, but quality scores for the wine with a natural cork increased significantly.

The impact of closure type and storage conditions on the composition, colour and flavour properties of a Riesling and a wooded Chardonnay wine during five years' storage

This paper presents the results from an investigation to assess the development of a Riesling and a wooded Chardonnay wine over five years following the imposition of several treatments at bottling. The wines were bottled under a screw cap closure, two different natural corks, a synthetic closure and in a glass ampoule. In addition, the effect of storage orientation was investigated. The bottled wines were stored under controlled temperature and humidity conditions. Various analyses were carried out on replicate bottles from each treatment, including sulfur dioxide and ascorbic acid concentration, sensory analysis of appearance and aroma attributes, and spectral measures. The largest treatment effect resided with the nature of the closure. Wines sealed with the synthetic closure were relatively oxidised in aroma, brown in colour, and low in sulfur dioxide compared to wines held under the other closures. A struck flint/rubber (reduced) aroma was discernible in the wines sealed under the screw caps or in glass ampoules. Wines sealed under natural bark corks in this study showed negligible reduced characters. The bottle orientation during storage under the conditions of this study had little effect on the composition and sensory properties of the wines examined.

Wine bottle closures: physical characteristics and effect on composition and sensory properties of a Semillon wine 1. Performance up to 20 months post-bottling

A Semillon wine was bottled using 14 different closures: a screw-cap type, two grades of conventional natural cork, two 'technical cork' closures (natural cork with a synthetic component), and 9 closures manufactured from synthetic polymer material. Closure performance was evaluated for physical aspects (e.g. extraction force and energy, change in closure diameter, and ease of closure reinsertion), and for wine composition and sensory properties. Wine under the screw cap closure retained the greatest concentration of sulfur dioxide (SO2) and ascorbic acid and had the slowest rate of browning. For other closures the trend of SO2 loss relative to the screw cap closure was apparent from an early stage of testing, and was most evident in the group of synthetic closures, intermediate in the conventional corks, and least evident in the technical cork closures. The loss of SO2 was in general highly correlated with an increase in wine browning (OD420) and the concentration of SO2 in the wine at six months was a strong predictor of future browning in the wine, particularly after eighteen months. Neither the concentration of dissolved oxygen at bottling (0.6-3.1 mg/L), nor the physical closure measures were predictors of future browning. For several closures upright storage tended to accelerate loss of SO2 from the wine, but in many cases this effect was marginal. The closures differed widely in regard to physical characteristics, and in general synthetic corks appeared least 'consumer-friendly' in terms of extraction forces, energies, and ease of closure re-insertion, but there was a trend for natural cork closures to exhibit larger variability in physical characteristics than technical cork and synthetic closures. Sensory analysis indicated large differences in wine flavour properties, with closures which tended to result in the best retention of free SO2 having wine sensory scores for 'citrus' that were generally high whilst scores for the attributes 'developed'/'oxidised' were low. The situation was reversed for wine under closures that performed poorly in the retention of free SO2. It was found that below a critical level of free SO2 remaining in the wine, closures exhibited substantially higher 'oxidised' aroma. Whilst trichloroanisole-type (TCA) taint was a noticeable problem for some cork and technical cork closures, any plastic-type taint appeared not to be a problem with most synthetic closures.

An industry trial provides further evidence for the role of corks in oxidative spoilage of bottled wines

Commercially available corks were tested for oxygen permeability and for the presence of oxidants by observing the change in concentration of antioxidants and the extent of browning in white wines stored in bottles with different closures. Bottles (375 mL) filled with a Semillon‐Chardonnay blend were sealed with either a roll‐on tamper‐evident (ROTE) aluminium screw cap closure with a tinfoil laminate wad, or a combination of ROTE + cork, or cork alone. Both peroxide‐ and chlorine‐washed corks, each from three different suppliers, were used in the trial. The bottles were filled, closed and stored in air under controlled conditions for 16 and 22 months. At each occasion, sample lots of 24 bottles of each closure type were analysed. Four types of corks, chlorine‐ and peroxide‐washed corks from two of the suppliers, had greater oxidative capacity than those from the third supplier and the ROTE closure alone. The seals provided by three of the four types of closure with increased oxidative capacity were also permeable to oxygen. Only some of the seals provided by the peroxide‐washed corks, and none of the seals provided by the chlorine‐washed corks, from the third supplier appeared to be permeable to oxygen compared to the ROTE closure alone. In all cases where permeation was observed, the extent of oxidation caused by this characteristic was highly variable amongst corks within a given batch. In contrast, the effect of an increased oxidative capacity in cork appeared to be similar whether observed amongst corks from within and amongst batches, and irrespective of cork type and supplier origin. The results of this study shows the incidence of these defects in corks that are commercially available to winemakers in Australia.

Type of closure prevents microbial contamination of cosmetics during consumer use

The dispensing closure used for containers plays an important role in protecting cosmetics from in-use microbial contamination. This hypothesis was tested by aseptically packing unpreserved shampoo and skin lotion into containers with three different closure types which provided various degrees of protection against consumer and environmental microbial insults. Shampoo was packed in containers with slit-cap (n = 25), flip-cap (n = 25), or screw-cap (n = 28) closures. Skin lotion was packed in containers with pump-top (n = 21), flip-cap (n = 18), or screw-cap (n = 21) closures. The products were then used by volunteers under actual in-use conditions for 3 (shampoo) or 2 (skin lotion) weeks. After use, the products were evaluated for microbial contamination by using standard methods for enumeration and identification. The standard screw-cap closure provided only minimal protection against microbial contamination of both the shampoo (29% contamination incidence) and the skin lotion (71%). The slit-cap closure on the shampoo container and the flip-cap closure on the skin lotion container provided slightly enhanced degrees of protection (21 and 39% contamination incidence, respectively). The greatest amount of protection (i.e., lowest contamination incidence) was provided by the flip-cap closure for the shampoo container (0%) and the pump-top closure for the skin lotion container (10%). As a result, closure type plays an important role in protecting poorly preserved products from in-use microbial contamination.

Nationwide epidemic of septicemia caused by contaminated intravenous products: I. Epidemiologic and clinical features

Between mid-1970 and April 1, 1971, Enterobacter cloacae or E. agglomerans septicemia developed in 378 patients in 25 American hospitals while they were receiving intravenous products manufactured by one company. Each of the hospitals noted a marked increase in the Incidence of such septicemia during this period. Enterobacter agglomerans (formerly designated Erwinia, herbicola-lathyri group) was better known as a plant pathogen and had been a human blood pathogen only rarely in the past. Septicemia caused by E. cloacae had also been uncommon. Clinical manifestations were indistinguishable from those of patients with other nosocomial gram negative sepsis except that most affected patients had no predisposing diseases or other sites of infection, half had infusion phlebitis, and appropriate antimicrobial therapy was clinically ineffective until the infusion was removed. These infections contributed to the death of 40 patients (13.4 per cent of cases), more than half of whom had underlying fatal diseases. The manufacturer was using a new Elastomer liner in the threaded cap of bottles of parenteral solutions; 39.9 per cent of 1,007 caps tested contained microorganisms, 8.1 per cent E. cloacae or E. agglomerans. These organisms were isolated from 0.6 per cent of cultures of fluid from stock supplies of bottles with Elastomer-lined closures and were recovered from intravenous fluid being administered lo septicemic patients. Organisms were easily transferred from the closures to the fluid by shaking the bottle. Outbreaks were terminated within individual hospitals only by discontinuing the use of the manufacturer's infusion products and nationwide by a total product recall. This epidemic focuses attention on infusion fluid as a vehicle of infection, the value of surveillance of nosocomial infections, the need for more vigorous preventive measures, and the danger of using conventional screw-cap closures with products that must remain sterile.

Nationwide epidemic of septicemia caused by contaminated intravenous products: mechanisms of intrinsic contamination.

Between 1 July 1970 and April 1971, in many hospitals in this country, there were outbreaks of nosocomial septicemia caused by Enterobacter cloacae of E. agglomerans (formerly Erwinia, herbicola-lathyri). All of these hospitals used infusion products manufactured by one company, Abbott Laboratories, and all affected patients had onset of septicemia while receiving the company's infusion products. Septicemia was epidemiologically and microbiologically traced to intrinsic contamination of the company's screw-cap closure for infusion bottles which was sealed with a newly introduced elastomer liner. Epidemic organisms were isolated from these closures. Investigations both in the laboratory and in the manufacturing plant into the mechanism of contamination of these products revealed the following. (i) Epidemic strains were present in numerous areas throughout the manufacturing plants. (ii) Viable microorganisms gained access to the interior of screw-cap closures after the autoclave step of production. (iii) Cooling closures actively drew moisture through the thread interstices into the inner-most depths of the closure. (iv) Transfer of contaminants from closures to fluid was easily effected by simple manipulations duplicating normal in-hospital use. (v) The red-rubber liner used in the company's screw-cap closures before the introduction of elastomer contained a broad-spectrum antimicrobial inhibitor. The findings from this epidemic and the associated studies show that the screw-cap closure as it is now designed cannot be considered secure for products that must remain sterile.

Screw Caps for Baby Food Jars (Statement for Physicians)

In compliance with the American mother's demand for maximum convenience in feeding her infant, baby food manufacturers have introduced screw cap closures for jars containing infant foods. These caps permit easy opening and reclosure, which mothers like, but also present a potential health hazard. Experience shows that some people, unaware of, or indifferent to, the dangers of bacterial contamination, open jars of baby food in the store, sometimes taste them, and return them to the shelves. Contaminated jars then present a hazard. Manufacturers have devised means of indicating whether or not a jar has been opened but safety can be achieved only if the consumer is aware of these and makes proper use of them.