Resumen de Oxygen permeability of macrocrystalline paraffin wax and relevance to wax coatings on natural corks used as wine bottle closures
C.P. Keenan, M.Y. Gözükara, G.B.Y. Christie, D.N Heyes
The oxygen permeability of a commercial macrocrystalline paraffin wax was determined. This permeability figure and diffusion theory were used to calculate the theoretical ingress of oxygen through the paraffin coating of a cork used as a bottle closure. We wanted to ascertain whether macrocrystalline paraffin wax coatings used on corks could be permeable enough to allow oxidation of wine. We also employed electron microscopy to show the spread of coatings on waxed corks before and after insertion inside a bottle. Our calculations indicated that oxygen permeation along the length of paraffin coating on a cork closure would not allow ingress of sufficient oxygen to cause oxidation of wine during storage.
