Elemental and nutrient composition of cotton plant parts

Authors: He, Zhongqi; Tewolde, Haile; SHANKLE, MARK - Mississippi State University; ZHANG, HAILIN - Oklahoma State University; Liu, Yongliang

Submitted to: Meeting Proceedings
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/21/2016
Publication Date: 5/17/2016
Citation: He, Z., Tewolde, H., Shankle, M., Zhang, H., Liu, Y. 2016. Elemental and nutrient composition of cotton plant parts. In: 2016 Beltwide Cotton Conferences Proceedings, January 5-7, 2016, New Orleans, Louisiana. p. 264-267.

Interpretive Summary: The most valuable product of a cotton crop is the lint. However, biomass materials from other parts of the cotton plant are also useful as a soil amendment, animal feed, bioenergy sources, and industrial raw materials. In this study, field-grown whole cotton plants collected at mid-season and just before defoliation were analyzed for selected chemical composition in roots, main stems, branches, petioles, leaf blades, and reproductive parts (burs, peduncles, and seeds). This documented the chemical characteristics of the individual biomass components in terms of plant nutrients and animal feed quality, and increased understanding of the accumulation mechanism with plant growth and development. The information reported in this work would be helpful in assessing nutrient management practices for cotton production. It also provides some insight on utilizing cotton crop byproducts as animal feed, soil amendments, and other off-field industrial raw materials.

Technical Abstract: To increase the knowledge on chemical composition of different cotton plant parts, cotton plants collected in mid-season and just before harvest (pre-defoliation) were analyzed for elemental and nutritional contents in different biomass parts. The plant samples were separated into six (mid-season) or eight (pre- defoliation) biomass fractions: main stems, leaf blades, branches, petioles, roots, and the reproductive part (or bur, peduncles+bracts, and seeds). The contents of macro (P, Ca, K, Mg, Na, and S) and micro (Fe, Zn, Cu, and Mn) elements, crude protein, acid detergent fiber, neutral detergent fiber, and acid detergent lignin in these biomass fractions were determined following standard procedures. We found that the growth stage affected the relative contents of some, but not all, measured parameters. Regression analysis revealed that the contents of certain parameters were well correlated with each other, but other parameters rather independent. The information reported in this work would be helpful in assessing nutrient management practices for cotton production. It also provides some insight on utilizing cotton crop byproducts as animal feed, soil amendments, and other off-field industrial raw materials.