Designation (also cork pores or cork warts) for the lenticular or also round air-permeable pores in the bark (outermost layer) of woody plants, which enable the gas exchange between the atmosphere and the living tissue. The cork lying under the bark is interspersed with lenticels in the form of corridors for this mass exchange (water and gas). The fewer lenticels are present in a cork intended as a bottle cap, the better the quality. On the one hand, the cork is denser and on the other hand, contaminants or bacteria can be deposited in the lenticels, which can impair the taste and contribute to the dreaded cork taste. In the past, the lenticels were therefore cut out by hand in a time-consuming process in the production of high-quality products. Today, however, this is no longer possible due to industrial production.
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Fachjournalistin, Lektorin und Verkosterin, Wien