With the new oil, many questions on the best methods of best preserving extra virgin olive oil from both producers and consumers also come back into focus. And which is the most suitable container that guarantees longer product life is certainly one of these.
It is therefore worth revisiting a recent research byIoannina University in Greece which compared the qualitative characteristics of the extra virgin olive oil contained in the two most common 3 and 5 liter containers: the bag-in-box (the package consisting of a plastic bag with a tap for tapping from below which guarantees vacuum, inside a cardboard container) and the aluminum can or so-called “tinplate”.
Sampling of olive oil has been carried out every 20 days, evaluating the deterioration of quality on the basis of multiple qualitative parameters: acidity, PV (peroxide number), K232 and K270 (the parameters that measure the absorption of ultraviolet rays), Delta K (measures the secondary oxidation state), color, total phenolic content, FA composition and volatile compounds profile.
Samples packaged in tinplate cans could no longer be classified as extra virgin after that 80 days of storage at 22 degrees and after 60 days at 37 degrees. The samples stored in bag in box instead maintained the extra virgin specifications throughout their storage a 22% and have had a shelf life of 100 days at 37 degrees.
In conclusion, the researchers recorded, the results showed that bag in box packaging proved to be more suitable to all olive oil samples even for those exposed to higher temperatures. Don't forget that the choice of the bag in box presupposes moving towards products that are certified and made in strict compliance with the regulations, since the bags contain the so-called phthalates, substances which on the one hand give softness to plastic and which on the other, in poor-quality and untraceable products, could be potentially carcinogenic.
