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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 #321887
Research Project: Improved Quality Assessments of Cotton from Fiber to Final Products

Location: Cotton Structure and Quality Research

Title: Fundamental research on spiking, recovery and understanding seed coat nep counts in AFIS analysis of pre-opened cotton

Author
item von Hoven, Terri
item Montalvo Jr, Joseph
item Santiago Cintron, Michael
item Dowd, Michael
item Armijo, Carlos
item Byler, Richard

Submitted to: Textile Research Journal
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/30/2016
Publication Date: 7/14/2016
Citation: Von Hoven, T.M., Montalvo Jr, J.G., Santiago Cintron, M., Dowd, M.K., Armijo, C.B., Byler, R.K. 2016. Fundamental research on spiking, recovery and understanding seed coat nep counts in AFIS analysis of pre-opened cotton. Textile Research Journal. Pg. 1-14. doi: 10-1177/0040517516657057.

Interpretive Summary: The Advanced Fiber Information Systems (AFIS) analysis of seed coat neps (SCN) involved analyzing individual fibers, trash and other unwanted particles from a 0.5 g cotton fiber sample. The individualized entities disrupted a light source and then were classified according to the waveform produced by that interruption. All of this was proprietary information and unavailable to researchers. In order to understand the differences in SCN counts as determined by AFIS and those counted manually from a fiber web under magnification, research was conducted by placing a known amount of different types of SCN into different fiber types and studying the counts that were determined by AFIS. Different varieties of cottons produced different recoveries of the input SCNs. Different types of SCNs also produced different recoveries. SCNs containing an variety of lengths of attached fibers were recovered to a greater extent than SCNs with just fuzz fibers, and those SCNs from delinted seed containing no fuzz fibers. To confirm the results showing differences, Mid-IR spectra were generated to show composition and variability differences between SCF cut from opposite ends of the seed. This research demonstrated that AFIS SCN counts differ from cotton to cotton, location on the seed, and length of attached fibers on the seed coat particle. These results helped explain why AFIS analysis of SCN counts in processed cotton was lower than by microscopic analysis.

Technical Abstract: Understanding seed coat fragment (SCF) spiking results in Advanced Fiber Information Systems (AFIS) analysis of seed coat neps (SCN) in ginned cottons was confounded by side processes in the system such as particle crushing that results in inflated recoveries. A high degree of machine (AFIS)-fiber interactions was required to individualize entities for sensing. In this paper, slivers were pre-opened in the AFIS followed by manual cleaning, spiking, and analysis with minimum machine-fiber interactions. A protocol was developed to spike the pre-opened slivers. The percent recovery of the spiked entity was dependent on the species and cultivar of the cotton used to prepare the slivers. The lowest recovery was with Pima fibers. Also, recovery improved with increase in length of the fibers biologically attached to the SCF surface. Delinted seed coat fragments produced the lowest recovery. Seed coat fragments carefully removed from ginned lint and added to the processed slivers gave the highest recovery. Averaged SCN recoveries from two AFIS units ranged from 26 to 100% (theoretical). Mid-IR spectra showed composition and variability differences between SCF cut from opposite ends of the seed. These results helped explain why AFIS analysis of SCN counts in processed cotton was lower than by microscopic analysis.