ARS | Publication request: COTTON STICKINESS MITIGATION BY BACTERIA

Submitted to: Proceedings of the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers International (ASABE)
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: May 12, 2006
Publication Date: July 9, 2006
Citation: Funk, P.A., Hughs, S.E., Gamble, G.R., Fleury, A. 2006. Cotton stickiness mitigation by bacteria. Proceedings of the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers International (ASABE). Paper No. 061078.

Interpretive Summary: Sticky cotton stops spinning mills. Spinning mills avoid buying cotton from regions that have experienced stickiness, depressing the market value of their cotton for many years. We tested a microbe that eats the sugars responsible for cotton stickiness by spraying some on small quantities. We also tested the cotton to make sure the microbe was not harming its quality. The cotton quality appeared to be unaffected. It is too early to tell if the stickiness was significantly reduced.

Technical Abstract: Sugars deposited on lint by late season sucking insects can make cotton difficult to spin and difficult to market. This study evaluated a lacto bacillus strain that metabolizes insect sugars under low moisture conditions. Lint with known levels of stickiness was sprayed with water containing Lasil Cotton® and compared to untreated material after 20, 60 and 180 days in storage. Sugar quantity was estimated using a high speed stickiness detector, a minicard machine and chemical tests. Fiber properties were tested using high volume instrument and automated fiber information system machines. Ring spun yarn quality was tested using statimat and evenness machines. Less than 2% moisture was added with treatment. Consequently, no degradation in fiber quality was observed with treatment. After 20 days there were only minor differences between most stickiness measures. Ends down were 0.69 per thousand ring spinning hours with treatment, and 4.86 for the control, a significant improvement in spinnability.