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Preliminary Evaluations of an Enzyme Approach to Reduce Cotton Lint Stickiness

T.J. Henneberry, B. Blackledge, Terry Steele, D.L. Hendrix, H.H. Perkins and R.L. Nichols


 
ABSTRACT

Laboratory and field studies were conducted to evaluate the potential of an experimental enzyme for degrading honeydew sugars on cotton lint and reducing cotton lint stickiness. Stickiness was measured with the sticky cotton thermodetector. Carbohydrate extractions from lint, in some experiments, were measured as percentages of total reducing sugars or individual sugars determined by high performance liquid chromatography. In the laboratory, (average temperature 85-100 F, 5 to 25% lint moisture on a wet weight basis) thermodetector counts decreased with increasing moisture percentages. Reduced counts occurred more rapidly when 1% of a proprietary enzyme was included in water solutions and seed cotton moisture percentages were 11% or higher. Significantly higher reductions in lint stickiness as measured by thermodetector counts occurred following incubation periods of 14 or more days as compared with 1 or 3 day incubation periods. In some instances, thermodetector counts increased following enzyme treatment, later decreasing to nonsignificant stickiness levels. This probably occurred because of the hydrolytic enzyme activity that resulted in degradation of the complex insect-produced sugars to one or more less complex sugars that were also sticky. Eventually these sugars were in turn reduced to nonsticky substances, probably by microbial activity. In the field, spray nozzles mounted in a spindle picker intake duct were more effective for application of water or water plus enzyme solutions than nozzles on a modified spray boom mounted in front of the picker.



Reprinted from Proceedings of the 1997 Beltwide Cotton Conferences pp. 430 - 436
©National Cotton Council, Memphis TN

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Document last modified Sunday, Dec 6 1998