Author
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Gamble, Gary |
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Submitted to: Journal of Cotton Science
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal Publication Acceptance Date: 8/1/2001 Publication Date: 9/1/2001 Citation: Gamble,G.R.Stickiness potential on cotton lint.Journal of Cotton Science. 2001.v.5,p.169-173. Interpretive Summary: Cotton stickiness due to insect honeydew contamination is of major concern to the textile industry. Honeydew is composed primarily of a variety of sugars, and one of the tests to measure sugar content on cotton lint is the ferricyanide method. This method is widely used primarily due to the speed with which it is performed and its reproducibility, but suffers from several disadvantages. One of these disadvantages is that it measures onl a fraction of the sugars present in honeydew, thereby making it somewhat unreliable as a test of insect honeydew contamination. Another disadvantage is that the method relies on the use of environmentally hazardous chemicals, which must be collected and disposed of as hazardous waste. The method described here uses an enzyme, glucose oxidase, to give a measure of total sugar content on the honeydew contaminated cotton, making it a more reliable method for ascertaining the extent of honeydew contamination. In addition, the waste produced by utilization of this method is a simple buffer solution which may be disposed of as non- hazardous waste. Technical Abstract: Cotton samples exhibiting a wide range of stickiness potential due to whitefly honeydew contamination were quantitatively measured for sugar content by three different methods. High performance anion exchange chromatography (HPAEC) was performed on water extracts in order to identify and quantify individual saccharide components. Measurement of reducing sugar content was performed using the ferricyanide test, and two different measurements of glucose concentration were made using a glucose oxidase enzyme system in conjunction with an amperometric electrode before and after an acid hydrolysis treatment. Results suggest that there is a good correlation between reducing sugar content and post-hydrolysis glucose concentration, thus providing an alternative method for assessing total sugar content. In addition, the difference between pre- and post- hydrolysis glucose concentrations shows a very high correlation with oligosaccharide content as measured by HPAEC. Glucose measurements based on the glucose oxidase enzyme system therefore provide a cost and time efficient method of screening cotton samples for possible honeydew contamination. |
