Clara Dombre a, Jérémie Wirth b, Emilie Devic c, Soline Caillé b, Véronique Cheynier b, Perrine Languet d, Marie-Héléne Lemaistre e, Stéphane Peyron a, Peggy Rigou b, Alain Samson b, Jean-Claude Vidal c, Pascale Chalier a a UMR IATE, UM2, Pl. E. Bataillon, Montpellier Cedex ; b UMR SPO, INRA, Pl Viala Montpellier Cedex ; c UE Pech Rouge, INRA, Gruissan ; d UCCOAR, Rte Montreal Gleze, Carcassonne ; e Sidel, Octeville sur mer, BP 204, Le Havre cedex CONCLUSION AND PERSPECTIVES The use of RPET bottles, an environmental solution to preserve wine during storage? Over the last few years, the use of virgin PET (polyethylene terephtalate) to manufacture bottles for beverages continually increased. As a consequence, post consumer PET is more and more recycled and bottle-to-bottle recycling of PET is becoming the most investigated issue. Increasing the part of recycled polymer in PET products can reduce their environmental footprint and reply to worldwide ecological attempts in addition to the cost advantages. However, the recycling process is known to induce thermal degradation of PET, decreasing its gas-barrier properties and ability to preserve beverages and thus its competitiveness. In this study, virgin PET and 100% Recycled PET bottles were used to package a wine. The oxygen content and the organoleptic quality of the wine was monitored during 9 months storage at 20°C and in total darkness. Recycled PET bottles are suitable for wine packaging, especially considering 100% recycled PET bottles were used. Slight difference in the aroma profile didn't seem to significantly affect the sensory perception of wine. After 5 months of storage, oxygen concentration in both PET bottles increased in relation with transfer through PET. Inclusion of oxygen scavengers in PET could overcome this problem without losing the benefits of using recycled PET. COLOR AROMA COMPOUNDS SENSORY ANALYSIS MATERIAL AND PRODUCT Gustatory analysis There is nosignificant difference between wine stored in virgin PET and recycled PET bottles after 9 months of storage at 20°C and in total darkness. Olfactory analysis There is no significant difference between wine stored in virgin PET and recycled PET bottles after 9 month of storage. However, wine stored in recycled PET bottles is dominated by honey and nut notes whereas wine stored in virgin PET bottles is dominated by spicy notes. Method Liquid-liquid extraction of aroma compounds using dichloromethane and analyzed by gaz chromatography – mass spectrometry. Results After 9 months of storage, wine contained 65 aromas. Only 7 of them allowed the discrimination between virgin PET and recycled PET. Method - Sensory analysis has been performed by 20 trained judges using black glasses, - Rating was done on an unstructured and bounded intensity linear scale, using olfactory (10) and gustatory (6) descriptors defined by consensus by the jury. A620 A520 A420 CI (Color Intensity) = H (Hue) = 420 / 520  yellow / red -a* +a* +b* -b* -L* +L* MethodsVirgin PET Recycled PET Absorbance (nm) Chromaticity L* a* b* Color intensityCI HueT Methods Results After 9 months storage at 20°C and in total darkness, no significant difference between color of wines stored in virgin or recycled PET. Wine : rosé Cinsault : % of ethanol - Volatil acidity < 0.17 g/L - pH 3,3 - Free SO 2 = 36 mg/L - Total SO 2 = 130 mg/L - O 2 = 8.5 mg/L - CO 2 = 815 mg/L Bottle : - 2 types of bottles : virgin PET 100% recycled PET - Degree of cristallinity of virgin and recycled PET = 27% (measured by DSC) Storage during during 9 months at 20°C in total darkness Chromaticity OXYGEN EVOLUTION Method O 2 is measured by polarographic orbisphere method. Results - Increase of O 2 for 5 months of storage due to PET permeability, - Oxygen intake is similar for both PET bottles : virgin and recycled. ACKNOWLEDGMENT : This work was performed within the NOVINPAK® project (UCCOAR, SIDEL, PURE environnement, INRA, IRSTEA, CNRS) funded by OSEO, French state agency for innovation and FEDER Method Virgin PETRecycled PET P O 2 (cm 3 /bottle/24h) ± ± Oxygen permeability is measured by a permeation analysis system « Systech 8700 » using 100% air, at 60% relative humidity and 20°C. OXYGEN PERMEABILITY Results