How to choose tea packaging materials
How to choose tea packaging materials or packing material for your tea bag, drip coffee bag, pyramid tea bag, etc.
Tea is an item that is easily affected by the environment and undergoes qualitative changes, and tea packaging plays an important role in maintaining the quality of tea. The selection of packaging materials will also have an impact on tea packaging. Next, dakinPack will introduce the basic requirements for selecting tea packaging materials.
Key factors for tea bag materials:
1. Focus on security. At present, many domestic enterprises that produce composite packaging materials abuse printing inks, thinners, adhesives, etc. during the production process, resulting in many packaging materials with many strong odors. Packing tea with these packaging materials will make the tea absorb these peculiar smells and destroy the original aroma and taste of the tea, so it is extremely important to pay attention to safety.
2. Pay attention to moisture resistance. Before packaging, the moisture content of tea should be strictly controlled (below 7%). The good moisture-proof performance of packaging materials can delay various hydrolysis reactions in the tea, so that the quality of the tea can be better maintained.
3. Pay attention to light protection. Light will accelerate the condensation reaction and changes of various components of tea, especially destroy chlorophyll and other substances, and reduce the quality of tea. Only when the packaging material has good light-proof performance can the quality of tea be better maintained.
4. Pay attention to gas barrier. Oxygen in the atmosphere will accelerate the oxidation reaction of various quality components in tea and reduce the quality of tea. The good gas barrier properties of packaging materials can also better maintain the quality of tea and effectively prevent tea from being oxidized.
The design and selection principles of modern tea packaging are: according to the protective requirements of the packaged tea, scientifically select packaging materials with good protection functions, carry out reasonable structural design and packaging decoration design, use sophisticated and reliable packaging machinery and equipment, and adopt advanced Packaging technology and methods, so as to achieve the purpose of protecting tea and prolonging the shelf life.
The following introduces the methods of selecting tea packaging bag packaging materials from 8 aspects.
1. It is necessary to understand the protective requirements of tea
The chemical composition and physical and chemical properties of different teas are different, so different teas have different protective requirements for packaging. For example, the packaging of tea should be highly resistant to oxygen (to prevent the active ingredients from being oxidized), high in moisture resistance (the tea leaves will be moldy and deteriorated due to moisture), high in light resistance (the chlorophyll in the tea will change under the action of sunlight), and high in aroma resistance. (The molecular aroma components of tea are very easy to emit and lose the tea flavor. In addition, tea is also very easy to absorb external odors), and a considerable part of the tea currently on the market is packaged in ordinary transparent plastic bags such as PE and PP, which greatly wastes the active ingredients of the tea. , the quality of tea cannot be guaranteed.
Contrary to the above-mentioned tea leaves, fruits, vegetables, etc. have respiration options after picking, which requires packaging to have different permeability to different gases. For example, roasted coffee beans slowly release carbon dioxide after packaging, and cheese also produces carbon dioxide after packaging, so their packaging should be high oxygen barrier and high carbon dioxide permeability. Raw meat, processed meat tea, beverages, small tea, baked tea, etc. also have very different protective requirements for packaging. Therefore, the packaging should be scientifically designed according to the different properties and protective requirements of the tea itself.
2. Choose packaging materials with suitable protection functions
Modern tea packaging materials mainly include plastic, paper, composite materials (plastic/plastic, plastic/paper, plastic/aluminum, foil/paper/plastic and other types of multi-layer composite materials), glass bottles, metal cans wait. We focus on composite materials and plastic-based packaging for illustration.
1) Composite materials
Composite materials are the most diverse and widely used flexible packaging materials. At present, there are more than 30 kinds of plastics used in tea packaging, and there are hundreds of multilayer composite materials containing plastics. Composite materials generally use 2-6 layers, but special needs can reach 10 or more layers. Plastic, paper or thin paper machine, aluminum foil and other substrates are scientifically and rationally compounded or laminated, which can almost meet the packaging requirements of various teas. For example, the shelf life of Tetra Pak milk made of multi-layer materials such as plastic/cardboard/aluminum-plastic/plastic can be as long as half a year to one year. The shelf life of some high-barrier soft-packaged canned meat can be as long as 3 years, and the shelf life of cakes packaged with composite materials in some developed countries can reach more than one year. After one year, the nutrition, color, aroma, taste, shape and microbial content of the cake still meet Require. When designing composite material packaging, special attention should be paid to the selection of base materials for each layer. The collocation must be scientific and reasonable, and the comprehensive performance of the combination of each layer must meet the overall requirements of tea for packaging.
2) plastic
There are as many as fifteen or six kinds of plastics used for tea packaging in my country, such as PE, PP, PS, PET, PA, PVDC, EVA, PVA, EVOH, PVC, and ionomer resins. Among them, the ones with high oxygen resistance include PVA, EVOH, PVDC, PET, PA, etc., the ones with high moisture resistance include PVDC, PP, PE, etc.; the ones resistant to radiation radiation such as PS aromatic nylon, etc.; the ones resistant to low temperature such as PE, EVA, POET, PA, etc.; good oil resistance and mechanical properties, such as ionomer resin, PA, PET, etc., which are resistant to high temperature sterilization and low temperature, such as PET, PA, etc. Various plastics have different molecular structures of monomers, different degrees of polymerization, different types and quantities of additives, and different performances. Even the same plastics with different grades will have different properties. Therefore, the appropriate plastic or the combination of plastic and other materials must be selected according to the requirements. Improper selection may cause the quality of tea to decline or even lose its edible value.
3. Adopt advanced packaging technology
In order to prolong the shelf life of tea, new packaging technologies are continuously developed, such as active packaging, anti-mold packaging, moisture-proof packaging, anti-fog packaging, anti-static packaging, selective ventilation packaging, non-slip packaging, cushioning packaging, etc. These are widely used in developed countries New technologies are not widely used in my country, and some methods are still blank. The application of these advanced technologies can significantly improve the protection function of packaging.
4. Selection of packaging machinery and equipment matching with tea processing technology
In order to meet the needs of tea processing technology, a variety of new packaging equipment has been developed, such as vacuum packaging machine, vacuum inflation packaging machine, heat shrink packaging machine, blister packaging machine, skin packaging machine, sheet thermoforming equipment, liquid Filling machines, forming/filling/sealing packaging machines, complete sets of aseptic packaging equipment, etc. According to the selected packaging materials and packaging methods, the selection or design of packaging machinery that matches the tea processing technology and production capacity is the guarantee of successful packaging.
5. The shape and structure design should meet the scientific requirements
The packaging design should meet the geometric requirements, and try to use the least packaging materials to make larger volume containers, which can save packaging materials and meet environmental protection requirements. The structural design of the packaging container should meet the mechanical requirements, and the compressive strength, impact resistance, and drop resistance should meet the requirements of the storage, transportation, and sales of the package. The shape design of packaging containers should be innovative, such as using pineapple-shaped containers to pack pineapple juice, apple-shaped containers to pack apple juice and other lively packaging containers are worth advocating. Packaging containers should be easy to open or open repeatedly, and some require display opening or sealing.
6. Comply with the packaging regulations of my country and exporting countries
From the beginning to the end of the packaging operation, each step should be selected according to packaging standards, regulations, and regulations, such as material selection, sealing, printing, binding and labeling, etc., and standardization runs through the entire packaging process, which is conducive to raw material supply, commodity circulation and international trade, etc. Packaging container recycling And the disposal of waste packaging materials should meet the requirements of environmental protection.
7. Packaging inspection
Modern packaging is based on scientific analysis, calculation, reasonable material selection, design and decoration, through the use of advanced packaging technology and packaging machinery and equipment. As a qualified product, in addition to the product (tea) should be tested, the packaging must also go through various tests. Such as the air permeability, moisture permeability, oil resistance, moisture resistance of the packaging container, the interaction between the packaging container (material) and the tea, the residual amount of the packaging material tissue in the tea, the resistance of the packaging material to the packaged tea, and the resistance of the packaging container. Compressive strength, bursting strength, impact strength, etc. There are many types of packaging tests, and the test items can be selected according to specific situations and regulatory requirements.
8. Packaging decoration design and brand awareness of packaging design
The packaging and decoration design should conform to the hobbies and habits of consumers and consumers in exporting countries. Graphic design is best coordinated with the contents. The trademark should be in an obvious position, and the text description should meet the requirements of tea. Be truthful about product descriptions. Trademarks should be catchy, easy to understand, easy to spread, and can play a role in extensive publicity. The packaging design of famous brand products should have brand awareness. Some product packaging is easy to change, which affects sales. For example, a certain brand of vinegar in China has a good reputation in Japan and Southeast Asia, but the sales volume has dropped significantly after changing the packaging. Packaging is suspect. Therefore, a product should be scientifically packaged and cannot be easily replaced.
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