Investigating Product Behavior During Storage in Packaging Materials - A Study on Freshly Baked Croissants
(2015) MTTM01 20151Packaging Logistics
- Abstract
- Very short shelf life of ‘freshly’ baked croissants is a growing concern for food retailers. It is affecting the economics of business, causing 10 to 40% in-store food wastage, and puts natural resources under severe stress. The factors affecting the shelf life are loss of crispness of the crust, and increased firmness of the crumb. This is largely due to migration of water from crumb to crust during storage period. Using appropriate packaging material the rate of moisture migration can be slowed down. Currently paper/polyethylene laminate, polyethylene terephthalate and polypropylene materials are used to pack croissants. However, the product shelf life is not more than 12 hrs. The study concluded that using monolayer... (More)
- Very short shelf life of ‘freshly’ baked croissants is a growing concern for food retailers. It is affecting the economics of business, causing 10 to 40% in-store food wastage, and puts natural resources under severe stress. The factors affecting the shelf life are loss of crispness of the crust, and increased firmness of the crumb. This is largely due to migration of water from crumb to crust during storage period. Using appropriate packaging material the rate of moisture migration can be slowed down. Currently paper/polyethylene laminate, polyethylene terephthalate and polypropylene materials are used to pack croissants. However, the product shelf life is not more than 12 hrs. The study concluded that using monolayer oriented-polypropylene film with perforations (WVTR of 10-14 g m-2 day-1) and multilayer oriented- polyethylene terephthalate film with or without ethylene vinyl alcohol polymer (WVTR of 9.2-9.5 g m-2 day-1) the moisture migration phenomenon in croissants is slowed down. Further, the crispness of packed croissants was lost at 6 h storage, however softness of crumb is preserved up to 24 h. (Less)
- Abstract
- Food wastage during distribution, retail sale, and consumption is a concern of great worry. It not only affects the economics of businesses but also puts natural resources under severe stress. For example, in the UK some 800,000 tons of bakery products are purchased each year and never eaten, mainly due to short life span of the product.
Earlier investigations at Lantmännen Unibake, UK have identified the need of using appropriate packaging material for extending shelf life of pastries, such as croissants. However, there is a general lack of knowledge on the behavior of packed products in packaging materials that are currently available in the market. This thesis aims at bridging this gap in the knowledge following an empirical approach.... (More) - Food wastage during distribution, retail sale, and consumption is a concern of great worry. It not only affects the economics of businesses but also puts natural resources under severe stress. For example, in the UK some 800,000 tons of bakery products are purchased each year and never eaten, mainly due to short life span of the product.
Earlier investigations at Lantmännen Unibake, UK have identified the need of using appropriate packaging material for extending shelf life of pastries, such as croissants. However, there is a general lack of knowledge on the behavior of packed products in packaging materials that are currently available in the market. This thesis aims at bridging this gap in the knowledge following an empirical approach. It combines both quantitative and qualitative methods for analyzing product behavior.
The factors affecting the shelf life of baked croissants are loss of crispness of the crust, and increased firmness of the crumb. This is largely due to migration of water from crumb to crust during storage period. Currently paper/polyethylene laminate, polyethylene terephthalate and polypropylene materials are used to pack croissants by the In-store bakeries in the UK. However, the product shelf life is not more than 12 hrs. In the empirical studies conducted in this work, first, a market survey was done including visits to In-store bakeries in the UK market to identify various packaging materials and define the needs. Ten commercially available packaging materials were selected for investigation. The selected materials were described as monolayer film, multilayer flexible film and paper-base multilayer flexible film. The water vapor transmission rates of materials were in the range from 0 to 20 g m-2 day-1 (38 °C, 90% RH). Second, to understand the moisture migration phenomenon in unpacked and packed croissants quantitative measures such as croissants moisture content and water activity value were measured at 1 h, 6 h, 12 h, 24 h and 48 hrs after baking. Qualitative measures such as texture analysis and sensory evaluation were also performed to evaluate crispness of crust and firmness of crumb. The measurements for the materials were compared for differences with significance following the analysis of variance tests.
The study concludes that an optimal material for croissants packaging provides a controlled rate of moisture transfer in the product and the surroundings. The product crispness is lost at 6 h storage when it is packed, however, softness of crumb is preserved up to 24 h. The three suitable materials identified are: monolayer oriented-polypropylene film with perforations (WVTR of 10-14 g m-2 day-1) and multilayer oriented- polyethylene terephthalate film with or without ethylene vinyl alcohol polymer (WVTR of 9.2-9.5 g m-2 day-1). Using these materials the moisture migration phenomenon in croissants can be slowed down. (Less) - Popular Abstract
- Do ‘freshly’ baked croissants need packaging?
Yes, they do! This study identified that using an appropriate packaging material the very short shelf life of ‘freshly’ baked croissants can be extended up to 24 hrs. Now, this is great news for the food retailers ambitious to reduce food waste across the value chain to save billion pounds! Food waste is putting severe pressure on land and natural resources. Any effort towards its reduction could help accelerate the move to a sustainable resource-efficient economy.
The factors affecting the shelf life of croissants are loss of crispness of the crust, and increased firmness of the crumb. This is largely due to migration of water from crumb (interior) to the crust (surface) during storage... (More) - Do ‘freshly’ baked croissants need packaging?
Yes, they do! This study identified that using an appropriate packaging material the very short shelf life of ‘freshly’ baked croissants can be extended up to 24 hrs. Now, this is great news for the food retailers ambitious to reduce food waste across the value chain to save billion pounds! Food waste is putting severe pressure on land and natural resources. Any effort towards its reduction could help accelerate the move to a sustainable resource-efficient economy.
The factors affecting the shelf life of croissants are loss of crispness of the crust, and increased firmness of the crumb. This is largely due to migration of water from crumb (interior) to the crust (surface) during storage period. An optimal packaging material provides a controlled rate of moisture transfer in the product and the surroundings.
Re-invent how you pack your croissants! Re-think before you waste food. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/7373744
- author
- Meena, Priyanka LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- MTTM01 20151
- year
- 2015
- type
- H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
- subject
- keywords
- Water Migration., Shelf life, Croissants, Packaging
- ISBN
- 978-91-7623-394-8
- language
- English
- id
- 7373744
- date added to LUP
- 2015-06-22 12:29:55
- date last changed
- 2015-06-30 09:08:08
@misc{7373744,
abstract = {{Food wastage during distribution, retail sale, and consumption is a concern of great worry. It not only affects the economics of businesses but also puts natural resources under severe stress. For example, in the UK some 800,000 tons of bakery products are purchased each year and never eaten, mainly due to short life span of the product.
Earlier investigations at Lantmännen Unibake, UK have identified the need of using appropriate packaging material for extending shelf life of pastries, such as croissants. However, there is a general lack of knowledge on the behavior of packed products in packaging materials that are currently available in the market. This thesis aims at bridging this gap in the knowledge following an empirical approach. It combines both quantitative and qualitative methods for analyzing product behavior.
The factors affecting the shelf life of baked croissants are loss of crispness of the crust, and increased firmness of the crumb. This is largely due to migration of water from crumb to crust during storage period. Currently paper/polyethylene laminate, polyethylene terephthalate and polypropylene materials are used to pack croissants by the In-store bakeries in the UK. However, the product shelf life is not more than 12 hrs. In the empirical studies conducted in this work, first, a market survey was done including visits to In-store bakeries in the UK market to identify various packaging materials and define the needs. Ten commercially available packaging materials were selected for investigation. The selected materials were described as monolayer film, multilayer flexible film and paper-base multilayer flexible film. The water vapor transmission rates of materials were in the range from 0 to 20 g m-2 day-1 (38 °C, 90% RH). Second, to understand the moisture migration phenomenon in unpacked and packed croissants quantitative measures such as croissants moisture content and water activity value were measured at 1 h, 6 h, 12 h, 24 h and 48 hrs after baking. Qualitative measures such as texture analysis and sensory evaluation were also performed to evaluate crispness of crust and firmness of crumb. The measurements for the materials were compared for differences with significance following the analysis of variance tests.
The study concludes that an optimal material for croissants packaging provides a controlled rate of moisture transfer in the product and the surroundings. The product crispness is lost at 6 h storage when it is packed, however, softness of crumb is preserved up to 24 h. The three suitable materials identified are: monolayer oriented-polypropylene film with perforations (WVTR of 10-14 g m-2 day-1) and multilayer oriented- polyethylene terephthalate film with or without ethylene vinyl alcohol polymer (WVTR of 9.2-9.5 g m-2 day-1). Using these materials the moisture migration phenomenon in croissants can be slowed down.}},
author = {{Meena, Priyanka}},
isbn = {{978-91-7623-394-8}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Investigating Product Behavior During Storage in Packaging Materials - A Study on Freshly Baked Croissants}},
year = {{2015}},
}