Hydrogen Sulfide Formation in Canned Wines Under Long-Term and Accelerated Conditions

Abstract

Background and goals Wines in aluminum beverage cans (“canned wines”) are a rapidly growing packaging segment due to sev-eral factors, including convenience and sustainability. However, canned wines have higher concentrations of hydrogen sulfide (H2 S; “rotten egg”) than wines in glass packaging. We hypothesized that wine composition and liner selection affect H2 S formation in canned wines. Methods and key findings Commercial wines (n = 10) were stored in glass or in aluminum beverage cans with one of three liners for up to 32 weeks. Wines stored in glass showed negligible H2 S production after 32 weeks. Wines stored in acryl-ic-lined cans produced up to 1307 µg/L H2 S (median = 162 µg/L) within eight weeks. Wines stored in cans lined with bisphenol A (BPA) epoxy produced less H2 S (maximum = 51. 8 µg/L, median = 11. 8 µg/L after 32 weeks), with comparable performance observed for cans with BPA non-intent (BPA-NI) epoxy liners. H2 S formation was well correlated with visible damage to the interior liners, but poorly correlated with dissolved aluminum. H2 S from accelerated aging of wines with lined aluminum coupons (50°C, up to 14 days, anoxic conditions) correlated with H2 S produced during long-term aging, but not with H2 S produced by unlined aluminum coupons. Molecular SO2 was best correlated with increased H2 S production in epoxy-lined cans during long-term aging of commercial wines; similar results were observed under accelerated conditions with coupons in a model-wine factorial experiment. Conclusions and significance Maintaining low molecular SO2 (less than ~0.4 mg/L) and using epoxy liners (BPA or BPA-NI) appear critical for ensuring low H2 S during long-term can storage of up to eight months. The accelerated aging approach described in this work may be applicable to other corrosive beverages.