Botanical Trash Mixtures Analyzed with near-Infrared Spectroscopy

Botanical cotton trash mixed with lint reduces cotton’s marketability and appearance. During cotton harvesting, ginning, and processing, trash size reduction occurs thus complicating its removal and identification. This trash causes problems by increasing ends down in yarn formation and thus processing efficiency. The HVI™ and Shirley Analyzer are extensively used to determine trash levels in cotton lint but they do not specifically identify its origin. This study was performed to determine the likelihood of recognizing differences between botanical cotton trash mixtures via Near-Infrared spectroscopy. Pepper-sized botanical trash type mixtures (composed of hull, leaf, seed coat, and stem) were formed using samples from Mississippi, South Carolina, and New Mexico of nine cotton varieties. The results of this study are presented herein.