Packaging Technology and Science

Automatic identification can give benefits in the form of cost savings, new business opportunities, additional value to existing business and increased customer loyalty to all players in the value chain. Pilot tests and user studies showed that additional services offered via automatic identification should include detailed product data, recipes, nutrient needs, user instructions and match user demand. Obstacles to use are costs, time consumption and complexity.

Researchers attempt to investigate the antimicrobial activity of cinnamaldehyde and eugenol as a principal constituent of cinnamon oil and clove oil, respectively, and their effectiveness after incorporation into cellulose-based films. Successfully, the research demonstrates the promising potential use of cinnamaldehyde and eugenol for application in antimicrobial packaging films or coatings. This article also demonstrates the limitation of an agar-disc diffusion assay used with lipophilic antimicrobial films and proposes a vapour diffusion assay to cope with this limitation.

Effects of treatment time by SF6 plasma on barrier and mechanical properties of paperboard were investigated. The results showed that SF6 plasma treatment can improve water resistance properties of paperboard significantly. However, WVTR and OTR of treated paperboard were higher with increasing treatment time. Plasma treatment had no effect on tensile strength; however, MD compression strength, as well as MD and CD folding endurance, of treated paperboard were significantly lower than that for an untreated sample.

This study measured and analysed vibration levels in vehicles commonly used to transport packages in the last leg of the package delivery service that is used by single-parcel carriers. The study presents these data as power density (PD) spectra and compares it with previously measured PD in commercial long-haul interstate tractor-trailer truck shipment.

This paper discusses two continuous structural integrity assessment techniques used to evaluate variations in the mechanical properties of typical packaging elements. The first technique is based on the short-time Fourier transform (STFT) and the other uses an adaptive digital finite impulse response (FIR) filter technique developed by the authors. The effectiveness and limitations of the techniques are evaluated by undertaking selected physical experiments.

Two HDPE types were exposed to UV from the front side and specific liquid chemicals from the back side. For a pigmented HDPE material, no relevant damage was observed, with the applied radiant exposure. An unpigmented HDPE showed clear degradation and gave no sufficient UV protection for packaged substance.