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ARS Home » Plains Area » Las Cruces, New Mexico » Cotton Ginning Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #298486
Title: An improved device to measure cottonseed strength

Author
item Armijo, Carlos
item Boykin Jr, James
item Hughs, Sidney
item BARNES, EDWARD - Cotton, Inc
item GILLUM, MARVIS - Retired ARS Employee

Submitted to: Applied Engineering in Agriculture
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/6/2014
Publication Date: 9/23/2014
Publication URL: http://handle.nal.usda.gov/10113/61765
Citation: Armijo, C.B., Boykin Jr, J.C., Hughs, S.E., Barnes, E.M., Gillum, M.N. 2014. An improved device to measure cottonseed strength. Applied Engineering in Agriculture. 30(4):565-570.

Interpretive Summary: During processing, seeds of cotton cultivars with fragile seeds often break and produce seed coat fragments that can cause processing problems at textile mills. A cottonseed shear tester, previously developed to measure cottonseed strength, was modified with enhancements to the drive system to provide a constant pulling speed to the shearing mechanism during cottonseed testing. Evaluation of the tester showed that placing a cottonseed in the shear mechanism with the chalazal end of the cottonseed flush with face of the mechanism produced a truer double shear than an alternative position. This flush position also resulted in less variable cottonseed shear force measurements. The shear device will provide a useful tool for cotton breeders to rapidly quantify the seed strength of prospective cotton cultivars.

Technical Abstract: During processing, seeds of cotton cultivars with fragile seeds often break and produce seed coat fragments that can cause processing problems at textile mills. A cottonseed shear tester, previously developed to measure cottonseed strength, was modified with enhancements to the drive system to provide a constant pulling speed to the shearing mechanism during cottonseed testing. Evaluation of the tester showed that placing a cottonseed in the shear mechanism with the chalazal end of the cottonseed flush with face of the mechanism produced a truer double shear because both the chalazal and micropylar ends of the cottonseed were sheared at the same time. The average breaking force and breaking shear was highest when the cottonseed was in the flush position. The flush position also resulted in a lower coefficient of variation of cottonseed shear force measurements. In addition, results from many trials showed that a sample size of 30 cottonseeds was probably sufficient when evaluating a cultivar. The shear device will provide a useful tool for cotton breeders to rapidly quantify the seed strength of prospective cotton cultivars.