Testing of Packaging
EXPERIMENT 12 TESTING OF PACKAGING Materials Used in Fish
Products
MATERIALS USED IN FISH
PRODUCTS
Structure
12.1 Introduction
Objective
12.2 Experiment
12.2.1 Principle
12.2.2 Requirements
12.2.3 Procedure
12.1 INTRODUCTION
Testing of packaging material is an important component of the total packaging
activities. The test results influence the selection of packaging materials and the
design of the package. A test can generally be defined as the act of determining a
given property or characteristic of a product (packaging material or package) by
taking one or more measurements qualitatively or quantitatively according to
prescribed procedure.
Objective
After performing this experiment, you will be able to:
choose the right packaging materials.
12.2 EXPERIMENT
12.2.1 Principle
Testing of packaging materials through standard methodology helps us in better
packaging of fish and fish products.
12.2.2 Requirements
Papers and paper boards.
Containers: Tin, aluminium and tin free steel can.
Flexible packaging : Retort pouch and modified atmosphere packaging.
12.2.3 Procedure
i) Tests for Papers and Paper Boards
a) Determination of thickness (IS: 1062 – part I – 1966)
Thickness or caliper is the perpendicular distance between the two principal
surfaces of the paper. Caliper of Kraft liner for a particular grammage should
be uniform across the sheet.
Apparatus
Micrometer screw Gauge
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Practical Manual – Result
Introduction to Fish
Processing, Packaging and Corrected values of average, minimum and maximum are obtained for each test
Value Addition specimen. The thickness of paper and paper board is measured in mm or mils or
points (1 mil = 1 point=1/1000 inch = 0.025 mm).
b) Determination of grammage (GSM) or Basis Weight (IS: 1060-part I-1966)
The weight per unit area of paper is defined as basis weight in g/m2, or grammage.
Apparatus
Substance Indicator
Method
A specimen is cut into a size of 10×10 cm after conditioning the sample and kept
in the substance indicator. Weight of the paper is expressed as gram per square
meter.
c) Determination of Bursting Strength (IS: 1060-part I – 1966)
Bursting strength is the hydrostatic pressure in kg/cm2 or lb/in2 required to produce
rupture of material when the pressure is increased at a controlled constant rate
through a rubber diaphragm of 1.20 inch in diameter. Bursting strength is widely
used as measure of resistance to rupture in many kinds of paper. It gives an
indication of tensile strength and stretch of paper.
Apparatus
Bursting Strength Tester
Method
Clamp the sample of approximate size 12x12 cm after conditioning in position,
apply hydrostatic pressure with the instrument until the specimen ruptures and
record the maximum registered reading in the pressure gauge. Make at least 10
acceptable tests to each side of the samples.
Report
The values are a measure of pressure and are reported in lb/in 2 or kg/cm.
ii) Test for Containers
a) Can Examination
Three or four equidistant points on the circumference of the seam are marked.
Using a micrometer the seam length (L), seam thickness (T), and the countersink
depth (CS), i.e., the measurement from the top edge of the seaming panel to the
bottom of the chuck wall radius at the marked points are measured. Body hook,
cover hook, body thickness (tb) and the end plate thickness (tc) are also measured.
Percentage overlap is calculated based on the above observations.
BH +CH +1.1 tc – L
% Overlap = ————————— × 100
L – (2.2 tc + 1.1 tb)
Where,
BH = body hook length;
CH = cover hook length;
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tc = cover plate thickness; Testing of Packaging
Materials Used in Fish
tb = body plate thickness; and Products
L = seam length.
iii) Test for Flexible Packaging
a) Determination of yield (IS: 2508-1984)
Yield is the amount of area provided by a given mass of a film of specified
thickness.
The actual yield, Ya shall be calculated as,
A (Area in cm2)
Ya, cm /kg = ———————
2
M (Mass in kg)
The nominal yield, Ya shall be calculated as,
1000
Ya, cm2/kg = ———
dt
d = density, g/ml; and
t = nominal thickness, cm.
b) Determination of Density (IS: 2508-1984)
Specimen shall be conditioned by submerging it in boiling water for 30 minutes
followed by conditioning at 27±2ºC for at least 24 hr to make it bubble free.
Procedure
Pipette 100 ml dilute alcohol (density 0.8-0.82g/ml at 27ºC) into a clean Drechsel
bottle kept immersed in a water bath maintained at 27±0.1ºC. After temperature
equilibrium has been attained; lower one test specimen carefully into the dilute
alcohol avoiding any adhering air bubbles. Add from burette, distilled water, 0.2
ml at a time, with stirring. When the specimen remains just suspended in the
solution well away from the glass surface, the density of the solution and the
specimen is taken to be the same. Density of the solution may be determined
with a pyknometer, or specific gravity bottle at 27±0.1ºC.
c) Determination of Tensile Strength and Elongation at Break: (IS: 2508-
1984)
Tensile strength has been defined as the force parallel to the plane of the specimen
required to produce failure in a specimen of specified width and length under
specified conditions of loading.
Apparatus
Tensile Strength Machine
The machine used should be able to maintain a constant rate of traverse of one
grip. The load scale should be accurate to within 1% or 0.1 N, whichever is less.
The load range should be such that the breaking load of the test pieces should
fall between 15 and 85 of the full scale reading.
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Practical Manual – Preparation of samples
Introduction to Fish
Processing, Packaging and Gauge length of the Specimens:
Value Addition
Plastics: 50±1mm length x 15mm width
Paper: 180±1mm length x 15 mm width
Traverse speed of machine:
Plastics: 500 mm/min
Paper: 150 mm/min
Samples shall be cut in lengthwise and crosswise direction, five numbers each.
Total length should be at least 50 mm longer than the gauge length. The thickness
should be measured using a micrometer. The conditioned specimen is clamped
between the grips of the machine. Machine is then switched on at the pre adjusted
speed. The load and elongation at break are recorded.
Calculation
The tensile strength at break calculated in kg/cm 2 from the original area of cross-
section. The mean of five results each is expressed for the lengthwise and
crosswise samples (MD and CD).
Cross Section are = width × thickness in cm.
Elongation at break (ELB) is expressed as percentage of the original length
between the reference lines. The mean value of the five results is expressed from
MD and CD samples.
L2–L1
% ELB = ——— × 100
L1
L1 = original length; and
L2 = length at the time of break.
Breaking Length
Tensile strength in kg × length of the strip in m
Breaking length = ———————————————————
(In meters) Wt. of strip, kg
Usually, Tensile Strength is more and Elongations less in MD.
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