Skip to main content
ARS Home » Southeast Area » New Orleans, Louisiana » Southern Regional Research Center » Commodity Utilization Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #354170
Research Project: Increasing the Value of Cottonseed

Location: Commodity Utilization Research

Title: Effect of seed orientation, acid delinting, moisture level, and sample type on cottonseed fracture resistance

Author
item Dowd, Michael
item MANANDHAR, ROJI - Collaborator
item Delhom, Christopher - Chris

Submitted to: Transactions of the ASABE
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 6/27/2019
Publication Date: 8/19/2019
Citation: Dowd, M.K., Manandhar, R., Delhom, C.D. 2019. Effect of seed orientation, acid delinting, moisture level, and sample type on cottonseed fracture resistance. Transactions of the ASABE. 62(4):1045-1053. https://doi.org/10.13031/trans.13109.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.13031/trans.13109

Interpretive Summary: Cotton ginners and others processing cottonseed have notice that current seed lots tends to more prone to damage, and methods are needed to be able to assess the tendency of seed to be able to stand-up to current processing operations. To achieve this, seed strength was studied with a materials tensile strength tester. It was found that statistically significant differences in the seed strength of different seed lots could be detected and quantified by this method. Therefore, this approach could be used during the development of seed varieties to help reduce the potential for seed-weak varieties being produced that will be lower in value and difficult to process.

Technical Abstract: BACKGROUND: Cottonseed damage is an important concern for cotton ginners and cottonseed oil processors. Seed that becomes damaged during handling or processing affects the value of both the seed and fiber. A test to evaluate the durability of seed varieties would be beneficial to breeders and ginners to help reduce problems associated with cottonseed damage. RESULTS: Seed compressive strength was studied with a material tensile strength tester. Seed cracked with less compressive force when they were oriented horizontally than when they were oriented vertically. Seed had a higher compressive strength when they were drier. Differences in atmospheric relative humidity (35 to 65%) were enough to effect the results, indicating that seed requires conditioning to obtain consistent results. Treating the seed with sulfuric acid to remove the linters did not affect hull strength, but significant differences in seed compressive strength were apparent among varietal samples. CONCLUSIONS: The tensile strength tester was effective for discerning differences in seed hull strength. However, because large numbers of seed need to be individually tested to achieve representative results, it may not be the best test for determining the potential for seed to be damaged during processing. A better test might be some form of mechanical damaging device (e.g., a roller mill) that would allow the analysis of a representative population of seed in a shorter time.