INTEREST OF DRYING OF APPRAISED PRODUCTS IN PLASTIC PACKAGING

What is the benefit of drying sterilized products in plastic packaging? Materials with a high oxygen barrier are absolutely necessary for the packaging of thermally sterilized canned goods in plastic packaging. However, the oxygen impermeability of the PP/EVOH/PP hollow bodies usually used for these products is reduced during the heat treatment in autoclave (moist heat) due to the increase of the water vapour permeability of the PP layers, allowing the wetting of the EVOH layer, which then loses partially its oxygen barrier capacity. Study of the drying kinetics of the EVOH layer after heat treatment, of the loss of oxygen permeability during and after sterilization with respect to the quantity of oxygen entering the product, and of the interest of proceeding to a drying of the sterilized trays by placing them in a controlled environment to improve the barrier effect of the packaging in order to increase the shelf life of the canned goods in plastic packaging.