Cottonseed
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What is a cottonseed?
A cottonseed is the seed of the cotton plant. It is commercially important for its oil and other products. Cottonseed oil can be used in salad and cooking oils, and, after hydrogenation, in shortenings and margarine. The remaining cake or meal is used in livestock and poultry feed. Linters, which are the short cellulose fibres left on the seed after ginning, are used to make coarse yarns and cellulose products. The hulls, or outer seed coverings, are used as roughage in animal feed.
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Where do cottonseeds come from?
Cottonseeds come from cotton plants, which belong to the genus Gossypium. These plants are native to most subtropical regions globally and have been independently domesticated in multiple locations.
Cotton plants develop white blossoms that turn reddish. After fertilization, these blossoms fall off and are replaced by small, green, triangular pods known as bolls. Inside the boll, the seeds and their attached hairs (cotton fibers) develop. When ripe, the boll bursts open, revealing a white, fluffy ball containing three to five cells, with each cell holding 7 to 10 seeds embedded in seed fibers. These seeds are what we know as cottonseeds.
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What do cottonseeds look like?
Cottonseeds are found within triangular pods called bolls that replace fertilized blossoms on the cotton plant. When ripe, the boll bursts open into a fluffy ball containing three to five cells, each with 7 to 10 seeds embedded in seed fibers. These seed hairs, also known as lint, can reach up to 2.5 inches in long-fiber varieties. Shorter fibers called linters are also connected to the seed. Two-thirds of the weight of seed cotton, which is the seed with the adhering seed hair, is made up of the seeds themselves.
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How are cottonseeds used after cotton is harvested?
After harvesting cotton, the seeds go through several processing stages that yield a variety of products. The seeds are cleaned to remove any debris, and then machines remove the linters, which are the short cellulose fibers that remain after ginning. These linters can be used to produce coarse yarns, high-quality mattresses, and cellulose for products like explosives and plastics.
The remaining seed is hulled, and the hulls are ground into roughage for animal feed. The kernels are then flaked and cooked to extract the oil, which can be done through pressing or solvent extraction. Cottonseed oil is used in cooking and salad oils, as well as in products like shortening and margarine. The cake or meal that remains after oil extraction is used as a high-protein feed for livestock and poultry. It can also be processed into starch-free flour for human consumption.
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What products can be made from cottonseed oil?
Cottonseed oil is a commercially significant product of the cottonseed. It can be used as salad and cooking oil. After undergoing hydrogenation, it can be used in shortenings and margarine.
The cake or meal that remains after oil extraction serves as feed for livestock and poultry. Linters, which are cellulose fibres, can be used to make coarse yarns and cellulose products. The hulls, or outer seed coverings, can be incorporated into ruminant animal feed as roughage.
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How does cottonseed help in agriculture and animal feed?
Cottonseed is used in agriculture and as animal feed. After the oil is extracted from cottonseed, the remaining cake or meal is used in poultry and livestock feed. The hulls, or outer seed coverings, are used as roughage in ruminant animal feed. Cottonseed meal is also used as a fertilizer. Linters, the short cellulose fibres left on the seed after ginning, can be used to make coarse yarns. The oil from cottonseeds can be used in salad and cooking oils and, after hydrogenation, in shortenings and margarine.
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Cottonseed, seed of the cotton plant, important commercially for its oil and other products. Cottonseed oil is used in salad and cooking oils and, after hydrogenation, in shortenings and margarine. The cake, or meal, remaining after the oil is extracted is used in poultry and livestock feeds. Linters, the short cellulose fibres left on the seed after the staple cotton is removed by ginning, are used to make coarse yarns and many cellulose products. The hulls, or outer seed coverings, are used in ruminant animal feed as roughage.
The ancient Chinese and Hindus had crude methods for recovering cottonseed oil and used it as medicine and in lamps, but large-scale commercial use of cottonseed is a relatively modern development. In the mid-19th century cottonseed was used mainly for planting cotton, and the leftover seed was considered a pollution and health problem. In 1833, however, the first successful cottonseed-oil mill was established in Natchez, Miss., and the industry expanded after the American Civil War. Cottonseed is now used either for oil production, for planting, or as animal feed. The United States has continued as the largest consumer, but cottonseed is also produced in quantity by India, China, Mexico, Egypt, Pakistan, and Brazil.
Following cleaning to remove extraneous matter, the linters are removed by machines similar to gins but with circular saws and finer teeth. Linters removed in the first cut are used to make high-quality mattresses and in the manufacture of coarse cotton yarns. Subsequently cut linters are purified and used in the production of explosives, cellulose acetate, rayon, ethyl cellulose, lacquers, and many plastic and other products requiring high-quality cellulose as the raw material.
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The delintered seed is hulled, and the hulls ground for incorporation as roughage in beef and dairy cattle feed. The seed kernels are flaked between steel rollers and cooked at about 113° C (235° F) to facilitate recovery of the oil, by pressing or by solvent extraction or both.
The pressed cake is sometimes broken and sold as cottonseed cake, but most is ground and sold as meal. The principal use of both is as high-protein and supplements in feed for cattle; swine and poultry can also eat it after processing to reduce the influence of gossypol, a toxic cotton plant pigment. Cottonseed meal is also used in making starch-free flour for human consumption.
The crude, dark-coloured cottonseed oil contains constituents that must be removed to produce edible oil. After filtration, the oil is refined by means of treatment with an alkaline solution that reacts with free fatty acids to form soap, which settles. The oil is separated from the soap stock by drawing off or centrifuging and then is washed with water to remove remaining soap particles.
For salad and cooking purposes, the oil is further purified by bleaching agents such as fuller’s earth and acid-activated bleaching clays. Then it is winterized—that is, made to stay liquid at ordinary refrigeration temperatures—by removing the saturated glycerides; this is done commercially by chilling and then separating the clear oil from the solidified portion. Odoriferous components are removed by heating the oil in a vacuum.
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For shortening and margarine, the oil is partially hardened by hydrogenation (combining hydrogen with the oil to chemically convert part of the unsaturated fatty acids to saturated acids).