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Title: VARIATION IN SURFACE CHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS OF COTTON FIBER AS A FUNCTION OF MATURITY

Author
item Gamble, Gary

Submitted to: Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/9/2003
Publication Date: 11/26/2003
Citation: Gamble, G.R. Variation in surface chemical constituents of cotton fiber as a function of maturity. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. 2003. v.51, p. 7995-7998.

Interpretive Summary: COTTON YARN PRODUCTION EQUIPMENT HAS INCREASED IN SPEED OVER THE PAST FEW YEARS, WITH THE RESULT THAT TRADITIONAL FIBER PHYSICAL MEASUREMENTS ARE LESS RELIABLE THAN THEY ONCE WERE AT PREDICTING YARN SPINNING EFFICIENCY. PRELIMINARY LABORATORY RESULTS HAVE INDICATED THAT COTTON FIBER SURFACE CHEMICAL COMPONENTS INCLUDING WAXES AND SOLUBLE METAL SALTS AFFECT YARN SPINNING THROUGH INTER-FIBER FRACTIONAL FORCES. IT IS THE GOAL OF THIS WORK TO CHARACTERIZE AND QUANIFY COTTON FIBER SURFACE CHEMICAL COMPONENTS WITH THE OBJECTIVE OF ELUCIDATING MATHMATICAL RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN THESE COMPONENTS AND FIBER MATURITY AS MEASURED BY MICRONAIRE. SUBSEQUENT WORK WILL INVOLVE UTILIZING THESE RESULTS IN DEVELOPING MODELS TO PREDICT SPINNING EFFICIENCY BASED UPON CHEMICAL PROPERTIES.

Technical Abstract: MODERN COTTON YARN PRODUCTION TECHNOLOGY HAS MADE IT IMPERATIVE THAT NEW PREDICTORS OF YARN SPINNING EFFICIENCY BE DETERMINED. SURFACE FRICTIONAL FORCES PLAY A LARGE ROLE IN SPINNING EFFICIENCY, YET LITTLE IS KNOWN ABOUT THE CHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS COMPRISING THE COTTON FIBER SURFACE OR THEIR RESPECTIVE ROLES IN INTER-FIBER FRICTIONAL BEHAVIOR. MAJOR COTTON FIBER SURFACE CHEMICAL COMPONENTS INCLUDING PECTIN, WAX, SOLUBLE SALTS, AND SUGARS WERE QUANTIFIED AND THEIR RESPECTIVE RELATIONSHIPS TO COTTON FIBER MATURITY, AS MEASURED BY MICRONAIRE, DETERMINED FOR 87 COTTON SAMPLES EXHIBITING LARGE VARIATIONS IN AGE, MICRONAIRE, GENETICS, AND GROWING REGION. IN THE CASE OF PECTIN AND WAX, INVERSE RELATIONSHIPS WITH MICRONAIRE WERE FOUND WHEREAS SALTS AND SUGARS EXHIBIT LINEAR RELATIONSHIPS WITH MICRONAIRE. USING THESE MATHEMATICAL RELATIONSHIPS, IT WILL BE POSSIBLE TO DEVELOP PREDICTIVE MODELS OF WHETHER SPINNING PERFORMANCE OF DIFFERENT COTTONS IS AFFECTED BY DEVIATIONS OF THE CHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS FROM THE DETERMINED RELATIONSHIPS.