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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Stoneville, Mississippi » Cotton Ginning Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #241954
Title: Relationship of Seed Properties to Seed Coat Fragments for Mid-South Cotton Varieties

Author
item Boykin Jr, James

Submitted to: ASABE Annual International Meeting
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 9/17/2009
Publication Date: 9/17/2009
Citation: Boykin Jr, J.C. 2009. Relationship of Seed Properties to Seed Coat Fragments for Mid-South Cotton Varieties. ASABE Annual International Meeting. Paper #097029. 24 pp.

Interpretive Summary: Approximately 13 million bales of cotton were produced in the U.S. in 2008, most of which will be exported. It is important that this cotton is processed efficiently while maintaining the quality demanded by domestic and foreign consumers. Problems associated with fragments of cottonseed remaining in cotton bales after ginning is one issue that is becoming increasingly important. These seed coat fragments (SCF) can cause the yarn to break resulting in costly down time in the mill. In addition, when the yarn or fabric is dyed, the SCF absorb the dye differently than the cotton lint and cause discoloration that is undesirable in the finished product. There has been much research conducted in mills to deal with this contamination, and cotton breeders have attempted to develop better cottons. One issue associated with current cultivars is the prevalence of cultivars with much smaller seed than in the past. This has raised concern that smaller seed are more prone to forming SCF. The purpose of this experiment was to analyze cultivar differences for SCF in lint and determine the relationship with other cultivar traits such as seed index, seed diameter, the distribution of seed diameter, or seed linter content. A total of 63 types of cotton were processed through typical gin machinery, and lint was analyzed. Cotton cultivars were found to vary in SCF content by over 100%. Significant variation in seed properties was also found. Cultivars differed significantly for seed diameter distribution. A polynomial relationship was found between SCF content and seed index with SCF initially increasing with seed index and leveling off or decreasing with larger seed index. A similar relationship was found between SCF content and seed diameter. No consistent relationship was found between SCF content and seed diameter distribution parameters. The results of this study showed no indication that cultivars with smaller seed, either overall or in the tails of the seed diameter distribution, were prone to higher SCF content. Results from this report will be vital to future research aimed at preventing or reducing SCF contamination in cotton bales. Implementation of this knowledge will help to increase the competitiveness of U.S. cotton.

Technical Abstract: Seed coat fragments (SCF) in cotton bales can cause processing problems for textile plants. Previous research has shown that cotton cultivars differ considerably for the number and weight of SCF in lint. With the recent trend towards cultivars with smaller seed, there has been some concern that increased SCF levels could result from smaller seed that are more easily damaged or more likely to pass through ginning ribs. Therefore, the objective of this study was to analyze cultivar differences for SCF in lint and determine the relationship with other cultivar traits such as seed index, seed diameter, the distribution of seed diameter, or seed linter content. Sixty three cotton cultivars were planted in Stoneville, MS, in a randomized complete block design in 2004 as part of the Mississippi State Regional Cotton Variety Trial. The cotton was machine harvested and ginned with a typical sequence of gin machinery. Seed coat fragment content ranged from 9.4 to 29.1 SCF per gram of lint among cultivars. Seed index ranged from 7.1 to 10.7 grams per 100 seed, and mean seed diameter ranged from 4.5 to 5.2 mm. Cultivars differed significantly for seed diameter distribution. A polynomial relationship was found between SCF content and seed index with SCF initially increasing with seed index and leveling off or decreasing with larger seed index. A similar relationship was found between SCF content and seed diameter. No consistent relationship was found between SCF content and seed diameter distribution parameters. The results of this study showed no indication that cultivars with smaller seed, either overall or in the tails of the seed diameter distribution, were prone to higher SCF content.