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ARS Home » Southeast Area » New Orleans, Louisiana » Southern Regional Research Center » Cotton Structure and Quality Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #253974
Title: Measurements of seed coat fragments in cotton fibers and fabrics

Author
item Bel, Patricia
item XU, BUGAO - University Of Texas

Submitted to: Textile Research Journal
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/9/2011
Publication Date: 11/4/2011
Citation: Bel, P., Xu, B. 2011. Measurements of seed coat fragments in cotton fibers and fabrics. Textile Research Journal. 81(19):1983-1994.

Interpretive Summary: Most seed coat fragments (SCF) have a substantial amount of fiber attached, which can make them difficult to remove during processing. Seed coats that remain after cleaning and carding can cause breaks during spinning and generally reduce the quality of the final product. As breeders pursue the goal of increased lint yield, it is important that work be performed to address the issue of SCF in order to maintain the quality of the lint produced. This paper reports the measurements of SCF contents in fiber and fabric. Image analysis of the fabrics using the Autorate system had high correlations to the hand counted dark specks in the fabric. It was found that fiber measurements using the Shirley Analyzer visible waste content, Shirley Analyzer + (which is similar to hand sorted SCF), and hand sorting SCF did not have good correlations to the SCF in the fabrics probably because they are based on weight and the fabrics SCFs are based on count. These fiber samples should be sorted and counted (by hand or Image analysis for SCF then related to SCF in the fabrics). AFISPro SCN had reasonable correlations to the SCF in the fabric, and the regressions were strengthened by the addition of AFISPro Fineness & Length by weight CV%. Ultimately, we are trying to find ways to measure SCF in fiber to predict problems in the mill, this could be used as a tool by breeders to eliminate varieties which have a propensity for high SCF.

Technical Abstract: Seed coat fragments (SCF) are parts of a seed coat that have been broken from the surface of either mature or immature seeds during mechanical processing. SCF can cause spinning problems and fabric defects, which ultimately cause losses to the cotton industry. The objective of this study was to develop baseline data on the SCF of U. S. cottons as compared with foreign cottons and the relationships between SCF measurements in fibers and fabrics. Twelve U.S. and 10 international cottons were selected for the study. The SCFs in these fibers were measured by hand-picking, the Shirley Analyzer and the Advanced Fiber Information System (AFIS), while the SCFs in the fabrics made from the same cottons were measured by hand-counting and an automated image-analysis system (Autorate). We were also looking for strong fiber to fabric relationships and by comparing the fiber and fabric data, we found that only the AFIS SCF measurement showed a promising relationship to the SCF fabric data. The SCF data in the fabrics by Autorate had a high correlation with the SCF fabric hand-counting data.