Bad cork?
manufacturers increasingly moving towards plastic corks because
they are deemed to be less of a risk. However, UK-based Instruments has developed a series of solutions to the
problem that have now been completed with the addition of its
sample grip.
The testing of extraction and penetration strength for wine bottle stoppers in accordance with ISO 9727 (1991) is an essential part of the technical specification for the product. Lloyd says it has launched the sample grip to allow these important parameters to be tested reliably and reproducibly using materials testing machines.
Wine stoppers must provide enough strength to seal a product and prevent contamination without being too difficult to open. Natural cork has served the wine industry for hundreds of years, but the introduction of polymer substitutes has started to become a more viable and cost-effective alternative for many manufacturers. The use of materials testing regimes in quality, production line or research environments allows comparisons to be made between natural and polymer cork and ensure compliance with internationally agreed standards of performance such as ISO 9727 (1991).
For wine stopper testing, Lloyd Instruments supplies a specially designed cork screw grip and instrument base plate. These firmly hold the cork and bottle for testing of extraction and penetration strength on the machine. The company says that a simple changeover of grip alters functionality to accommodate different product samples and build cost-efficiency into any quality testing procedure.
Standard mechanical tests that can be performed on a variety of testing machine, including compression loads (to check insertion forces) and relaxation and peak tension measurements (to check extraction forces). The equipment can be used in conjunction with Lloyd's LFPlus - a 1 kN high performance universal testing machine - together with Nexygen software package, which can be programmed towards individual testing requirements.
The problem with wine cork taint has led to a number of new solutions to try and prevent the problem. Leading French cork supplier, Sabaté has also developed a solution to use an extraction process which prevents the fungus from forming in the first place. This extraction process is designed to remove TCA, or 2,4,6-trichloroanisolea fungus, from the cork. TCA is a compound that grows in cork fibre and can cause cork taint, the musty or mouldy odour that can spoil wine. Up to one in ten bottles are estimated to be affected by this.
The company is readying a new production facility in Spain that will integrate the TCA extraction technology into the line.
