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ARS Home » Plains Area » Lubbock, Texas » Cropping Systems Research Laboratory » Cotton Production and Processing Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #281695

Title: Development of a cottonseed dehulling process to yield intact seed meats

Author
item NUNNELEY, J - Texas A&M University
item FAULKNER, W - Texas A&M University
item SHIMEK, M - Texas A&M University
item Holt, Gregory
item WEDEGAERTNER, T - Cotton, Inc

Submitted to: Applied Engineering in Agriculture
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 6/14/2013
Publication Date: 10/17/2013
Citation: Nunneley, J.L., Faulkner, W.B., Shimek, M.V., Holt, G.A., Wedegaertner, T.C. 2013. Development of a cottonseed dehulling process to yield intact seed meats. Applied Engineering in Agriculture. 29(5):613-619.

Interpretive Summary: Due to advances in technology that can produce cottonseed without gossypol, thus opening the market for human consumption, there is a need to dehull the seed without damaging the meats. Previous dehulling of cottonseed produced 25% undamaged, clean kernels. This study was undertaken to improve the pecentage of undamaged kernels when dehulling cottonseed. Lab test results indicate a process that yields approximately 70% undamaged kernels.

Technical Abstract: With recent genetic advances in development of gossypol-free cotton varieties, there is interest in retrieving undamaged, dehulled cottonseed kernels for consumption. The objective of the described work was to develop a process for dehulling fuzzy cottonseed to render a high percentage of undamaged seed meats. A series of processing machines was optimized, and multiple processes were tested to identify the suite of processes that provided the highest yields. The final process includes steam conditioning, cracking and dehulling using roller mills, and finally, separating kernels from hull material using a roller separator and air aspirator. The reintroduction of un-dehulled seed to the roller mills for a second pass significantly increased the final yield of undamaged seed meats. Lab scale tests show that yields of 65% to 70% can be obtained using this process, representing a significant increase over conventional dehulling.