Question 1 An extruded snack product (225 g dry weight) is packaged in a flexible pouch with lay- flat dimensions of 21 cm x 34 cm. The initial moisture content of the product is 1.5% (ww). The package is nitrogen-flushed prior to sealing with the product and stored at 20"C and 60% RH. The moisture sorption isotherm of the product can be described by the GAB equation: 17.875aw m = (1- 1.law)(1 -1.law +7.15a,) A metalized BOPP film (HO permeability: 35 gum /my.d.kPa) is used for packaging the product. If the product has a critical moisture content of 4.2% (w/w), determine the thickness of the metalized BOPP film required to achieve a target shelf-life of 120 d. Show calculation and include a screen shot of the moisture sorption isotherm show the information used for solving the problem. (20%) (ii) The product is susceptible to oxidative rancidity with a critical oxygen content of 1.0 mLig (dry basis). Determine if the metalized BOPP film, at the thickness determined from part (), is suitable for packaging the product. The Oz permeability of the film is 6,600 mL.um/m .d.atm. Show steps of calculation. (10%) (iii) To extend the product shelf-life, the brand owner wishes to experiment with a 3-layer composite film made of a nylon core layer (15 um) and two outer PP layers (60 um each), with the following barrier properties: H20 Nylon permeability: 898 gum/m .d.kPa . PP permeability: 60 gum/m .d.kPa Nylon permeability: 110 mLum/m?.d.atm . PP Oz permeability: 350,000 mL.um/m'.d.atm Would you recommend the use of the composite film? Justify your answer using calculations. (20%) (iv) If the product were to be stored in an environment of higher humidity at 80% RH level, how would this affect your answers in part (i) (20%) (v) Without changing the polymers of the packaging film, what modifications to the package and/or product can be done to extend the shelf-life? List as many approaches as you can think of. (10%) Question 2 A plastic bag made of LDPE film, with a total surface area of 0.03 ma, is to be used for modified headspace packaging of a tropical fruit. At 20"C, the fruit has a respiration rate described by Ro = 92 x [Oz], where Ro is rate of Oz consumption rate (mL/kg.h) and [Oz] is oxygen concentration (in fraction)- At 10"C, the Oz and CO: permeability values of the LDPE film are 110 and 366 mL.mil/m?.h.atm, respectively. If the activation energy values of the film for Oz and CO2 permeation are 30.0 and 32.0 kJ/mol, respectively, calculate Oz and COz permeability at 20*C. (10%) (ii) If the LDPE film has a thickness of 1.0 mil, determine the weight (kg) of the fruit that should be packed in order to achieve equilibrium Oz and CO2 headspace concentrations of 2 and 6%, respectively, assuming the respiration quotient (RQ) of the fruit is 1.0 at 20"C. (15%) (ii) During transportation, the packaged product was exposed to an elevated temperature at 30"C. Due to the thermal abuse, the oxygen consumption rate of the fruit change to Ro = 200 x [Oz] and the RQ = 3.0. Determine the new equilibrium headspace Oz and COz concentrations (15%) (iv) Discuss the potential impacts to the product shelf-life due to the increase in temperature. Propose packaging innovations to address the issues. (10%)