2024-03-04
A buoyant material that is impermeable is cork. The bark tissue known as phellem is mostly extracted for commercial use from Quercus suber, also known as the cork oak, a tree that is indigenous to northwest Africa and southwest Europe. One of the hydrophobic substances that makes up cork is suberin. It is utilized in many different goods, the most popular of which are wine stoppers, due to its qualities of being impermeable, buoyant, elastic, and fire retardant.
About half of the cork gathered globally each year is produced in Portugal's montado region, and Corticeira Amorim is the top cork manufacturer in the world.[1] Robert Hooke discovered and named the cell as a result of his microscopic examination of Cork.[2]
Geographic origin, soil and climate conditions, genetic heritage, and tree species all affect the composition of cork.