COMPOSITION AND USES OF COTTON

The first step in the processing of picked cotton takes place at the ginnery where the fibre, about 37% of the total mass of the cotton, is separated from the seed. The fibre consists almost exclusively of cellulose and is the most important product of cotton from a commercial viewpoint

The various products derived from cotton are set out more fully in the diagram.
Click to enlarge

The seed is also of considerable economic importance and in the course of oil extraction, is processed into the following products:
Fuzzy cotton - 3%
Hulls - 30%
Pulp - 61%
Loss (waste) - 6%

The pulp is processed into the following products:
Crude oil - 21%
Oil-cake - 74%
Loss (waste) - 5%

The oil is used in the preparation of foodstuffs while the cake or meal is used in the manufacture of fodder. Cotton seed contains a poisonous substance, gossypol, which is removed from the edible oil in the refining process. The gossypol in the oil-cake is rendered harmless by the addition of chemicals.

The oil-cake is constituted more or less as follows:
Albumen - 45%
Fat - 6%
Fibre - 10%
Carbohydrate - 24%
Minerals - 5%
Liquid - 10%

COTTON SA