Analysis of the cork quality according to its technological characteristicsin the north-west region of Algeria

Abstract: The quality of cork was characterized in eight cork oak stands within the production region of Oranie (North-West, Algeria), based on a field sampling on 75 trees/stand. The superposition of the quality classes provided by the Coveless CQ05 to the measurements of the technological characteristics carried out in the laboratory showed a perfect homogenization between the two processes. The best quality class [stopper cork bark (2, 4 and 6)] is identified in the acceptable averages of the production characteristics, namely annual growth (2.47 mm/year), thickness (29.40 mm), volumetric density (178.86 kg/m3), porosity (2.01%) and severe anomalies (17% for the inclusions and 8.16% for the earthy cork). On the other hand, for the mediocre quality class (Raw cork waste, 9), these averages tend to increase so as to reduce the market value of the cork, particularly the density (350.62 kg/m3) and the porosity (7.50%).The results showed the role of the tree, of the geographical and environmental component on the variation of the quality.