Boiling and Stabilisation after Boiling RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT (R&D) C.E. LIÈGE, following a development politics of research actions which fulfils both cork industrials and thei clients, has decided to include in its Plan of Activities a study on the conditions in which the cork boiling procedure is carried out, and its consequent stabilisation, taking into account the vital role these stages play in the manufacture process. Actually, these stages have been in use in this industry for many years, based on practices which were the result of the knowledge passed on from one generation to another. Obviously, those empirical practices have no scientific explanation which can ground the large number of phenomena developed during the process and which have a decisive influence in the final quality of the several cork types. By publicising the results of the work ran by the CTCOR (Portugal) and the IPROCOR (Spain), one can tell cork industry, in its whole, about the criteria of the practices improvement so far used, trying to suit them to the needs of a growing credibility of cork products. It must be referred that the study analysed the traditional boiling methods and techniques. The current document presents a summary of the important work developed by the two laboratories above-mentioned. 1. AIMS Deepen the knowledge on physical, chemical and microbiological deviations which might occur in cork planks, during the boiling process and the stabilisation after the boiling. 2. METHODOLOGY First stage of study: During a week, cork was boiled in a stainless steel boiler with clean water from a well. Boiling time- 1h15 min. Several samples were taken from one plank: 1/5 before the boiling 1/5 immediately after the boiling 1/5 a week after 1/5 two weeks after 1/5 three weeks after the stabilisation Stabilisation conditions: Inner medium temperature     16,4º C Inner medium humidity          82,4º C Medium luminosity                 1 lux Ventilation                            Only the necessary Those several plank samples, as well as a sample of the water of the second boiling process were then analysed. Second stage of study: The cork planks were boiled for one week. Before putting the bales in the boiler, the former was showered in a clean water from a well. The shower took 5 minutes, under a water pressure of 4kg/cm2. The samples of the water of the boiling process were removed during each days' second boiling and then analysed. 1. CONCLUSIONS After a week of non- stop boiling processes of the boiler, we may say that the water has lost all its extraction power, being now completely saturated. The boiler water must be changed after 30- 35 boiling procedures, in case of a non- stop boiling procedure. After a two days' pause, the water must be changed because there are reports of a great tenor of TCA. There were no traces of TCA in the water from the boiling process, nor in the shower water, except after the two days' pauses. The results of the TCA analyses on the planks very low tenors (0 - 1,3 µg/kg of cork) which does not favour the risk of contamination. Most of the cork samples that were tested did not show traces of PCP. In the two cases where there were traces of PCP in raw planks, they disappeared after the boiling and the stabilisation processes. The practice of planks shower, straight after their placement in the boiler, enables one to use the water from the boiling for one more day, before reaching the saturation. The one thing left to do is evaluate the shower cost and compare it to one day cost, in which it is possible to make 7 to 12 additional boiling procedures. Interested companies may address the Secretariat for any further information. The co-ordinates are the following: Tel.: 227442544; Fax: 22-7442547. Address: Apart. 100 - 4536-904 Santa Maria de Lamas.