Understanding Variation in Cottonseed Oil Percentages
Abstract
Cottonseed grown in the US is most commonly either crushed as an oil seed or used by dairies in feed rations. While more than 85% of a cotton crop’s value is from the lint, the seed represents an important economic component of the cotton industry. Over the past few decades, cottonseed size has been trending towards a smaller seed, as plant breeders have been selecting for seeds with a higher ratio of lint to seed weight to increase lint yield. Consequently, the value of the cottonseed has declined. To ultimately regain value within the cotton industry, cotton producers need to grow a crop with a large seed size and high oil content while maintaining high lint yields and fiber quality. The objective is to determine the current relationship between seed size, oil content, and lint yield among current cotton varieties grown by US cotton producers. Replicated field trials were grown at six locations in Texas with 25-40 entries of commercial cotton varieties. Measurements included lint yield, lint percentage (ratio of lint to seed weight), HVI™ fiber qualities, seed index (weight in grams of 100 seeds) and oil content. The oil content was measured by time domain nuclear magnetic resonance (TD-NMR) as described by AOCS. Data was analyzed in an ANOVA using SAS version 9.4 with PROC GLM. Because cotton variety entries varied by location, each location was analyzed separately. Lint yield, lint percent, all fiber traits, seed index, and oil content were different among cotton varieties at all locations. There was an inverse relationship between seed size and lint percent, but there were several cotton varieties in which lint percent and seed size were both relatively high. This suggests that the traits may not be inextricably linked, and plant breeders can develop germplasm with both improved traits. In addition, there did not appear to be a relationship between seed quality (size and oil content) and fiber quality, which suggests those are independent traits.
Subject
Cottonseed OilLint yield
Oil content
Variation in Cotton Seed
Variation in Cottonseed Oil Content
Variation in Cottonseed Oil Percentages
Seed Size vs. Oil Content
Lint Yield vs. Oil Content
Citation
Veeravelli, Shreya Srisai (2023). Understanding Variation in Cottonseed Oil Percentages. Undergraduate Research Scholars Program. Available electronically from https : / /hdl .handle .net /1969 .1 /196593.