James Rodgers1, Sho Yeung Kang2, Xiaoliang Leon Cui1, Vikki Martin3, and Michael D. Watson3. (1) USDA ARS, SRRC, 1100 Robert E. Lee Blvd., New Orleans, LA 70124, (2) University of Georgia, 305 Sanford Drive, Athens, GA 30602, (3) Cotton Incorporated, PO Box 8006, Cary, NC 27512
Cotton color is an important quality and processing property. In the U.S., cotton is classified for color using the Uster High Volume Instrument (HVI). The color of cotton on the HVI is denoted by the parameters Rd and +b, which represent the cotton’s diffuse reflectance and yellowness, respectively. Rd and +b are specific to cotton fiber and are not typical globally recognized color systems. An earlier program established and validated the feasibility of correlating Rd and +b to the globally recognized color system L*a*b* (or CIELab) for both standard tiles and cottons. The major impact on agreement between the HVI and standard color spectrophotometers and between color spectrophotometers was the use of glass (required for cotton color analyses) between the sample and the spectrophotometer measurement port. A program was implemented to 1) investigate the impact of glass and glass type on the spectrophotometer color measurements and 2) to determine the feasibility of minimizing the glass impact. The results were encouraging, and protocols for minimizing glass impacts on spectrophotometer tile and color measurements were determined.