The mature seeds are brown ovoids weighing about a tenth of a gram. By weight, they are 60% cotyledon, 32% coat and 8% embryonic root and shoot. These are 20% protein,
The mature seeds are brown ovoids weighing about a tenth of a gram. By weight, they are 60% cotyledon, 32% coat and 8% embryonic root and shoot. These are 20% protein, 20% oil and 3.5% starch. Fibres grow from the seed coat to form a boll of cotton lint. The boll is a protective fruit and when the plant is grown commercially, it is stripped from the seed by ginning and the lint is then processed into cotton fibre. For every hundred weight of fibre, about one hundred and sixty weight of seeds are produced. The seeds are about 15% of the value of the crop and are pressed to make oil and used as animal feed. About 5% of the seeds are used to sow the next crop.
Uses of Cottonseed
Feed products for livestock
With the advancement of technology, the processing of food has become considerably convenient. As a result cottonseed has been able to flourish in new markets such as feed products for livestock. Cotton seed is crushed in the mill after removing lint from the cotton plant. The seed is further crushed to remove any remaining linters or strands of minute cotton fibres. The seeds are further hulled and polished to release the soft and high-protein meat. These hulls of the cottonseed are then mixed with other types of grains in order to make it suitable for the livestock feed. Cottonseed Meal and Cottonseed Hulls are the most abundantly available natural sources of protein and fibre used to feed livestock.
Cottonseed meal is a good source of protein. There are two types of meal extraction processes: Solvent Extraction Process and Mechanical Extraction Process. Most of the meal is extracted mechanically through cottonseed kernels. The flaked cottonseed kernels are put into high pressure through a screw inside a barrel which is constantly revolving. The screw pushes out the oil through the openings made in the barrel. The dry pieces left in the barrel are preserved and ground into meal. On the other hand, during the solvent extraction process, the cotton seed kernels are su