Note: You are reading this message either because you can not see our css files, or because you do not have a standards-compliant browser.

LOGO: Journal of Cotton Science

 

Evaluation of an Enzyme-Based Method for the Detection of Stickiness Potential on Cotton Lint

Authors: G.R. Gamble
Pages: 169-173
Molecular Biology and Physiology

Cotton bales suspected of being contaminated by insect honeydew are screened by a variety of methods to assess sugar content, one of the most widely used being the ferricyanide reducing sugar test. This study was conducted to determine whether an enzyme method based on the measurement of glucose following acid hydrolysis provides a comparable determination of stickiness potential due to insect honeydew contamination. Whitefly honeydew-contaminated cotton samples exhibiting a wide range of stickiness potential, as measured by the sticky cotton thermodetector, were quantitatively measured for sugar content by three methods. High-performance, anion exchange chromatography was performed on water extracts to identify and quantify individual saccharide components. Measurement of reducing sugar content was performed using the ferricyanide test, and two different measurements of glucose concentration were made using a glucose oxidase enzyme system in conjunction with an amperometric electrode before and after an acid hydrolysis treatment. Results showed that the difference between pre- and post-hydrolysis glucose concentrations exhibited a substantially higher correlation with stickiness potential as measured by the sticky cotton thermodetector than did reducing sugar content as measured by the ferricyanide test. Glucose measurements based on the glucose oxidase enzyme system were more accurate than the ferricyanide test and provided a cost- and timeefficient method of screening cotton samples for possible honeydew contamination. In addition, screening cotton samples by the glucose oxidase enzyme system does not lead to production of a hazardous waste stream, as is the case with the ferricyanide test.