Context

The manufacture of stoppers is currently the application with the highest added value for cork as a raw material with 98% of the Catalan cork sector’s revenue coming from the manufacture of corks for still wines and sparkling wines. The industry has a turnover of almost €230 million, has an export level of around 50% and employs more than 1200 people.
Given that it is a high-quality product, the challenge is to remove sensory deviations in order to comply with requirements of the wineries and stave off the threat of alternative stoppers. These alternative stoppers have consolidated their position in the market, mainly due to the controversy generated around the presence of haloanisoles (like TCA) and other volatile compounds which may be present in the cork and affect the bouquet of the wine. This has forced the cork sector to implement technologies for the detection and/or removal of these aromatic compounds.
There are currently systems to remove aromas in the market, but they are mainly aimed at cork granules, not bottle corks, given that they are ‘aggressive’ elimination systems that may affect the cellular structure of the material.
The proposed system is based on the use of adsorbents and biosorbents with the aim of retaining the aromas extracted in the various cork production stages.
The innovation developed in the project has an impact on productivity and sustainability levels both territorially and in the winemaking and cork industries in general.