Botanical trash analysis of cottonseed oil mill process streams

The objective of this study was to determine the content of bract and leaf (likely carriers of suspect byssinotic agent[s]) in the process and trash streams in a cottonseed oil mill. A rapid procedure is described to determine the percentage of bract and leaf particles in trash sieved from cottonseed samples. Using this technique, it was found that bract and leaf particles were largely removed from cottonseed by the sum total of processing steps occurring during cleaning and delintering. With the exception of the trash streams from the safety shaker, bract and leaf particles were almost nonexistent in the hulling and separating room. Processing of linters through cleaners and beaters was ineffective in removing the bract and leaf fragments entangled in the fiber mass.