Near-infrared classification of cotton lint, botanical and field trash

Abstract

It is advantageous to produce cotton of the highest quality while minimizing the effect and presence of trash within the cotton lint. In addition, cotton trash comingled with the lint adversely affects the quality and profit margin associated with producing, harvesting, and processing cotton. The popularity of High Volume Instrumentation (HVI) has spread because it provides instrument-based cotton quality measurements (e.g. length, strength, length uniformity, micronaire, color, and trash content). However, this instrument does not specifically determine the types of trash present within the lint. Software was utilized to determine the specific identity of various pure samples of botanical and field trash types using Near-Infrared (NIR) spectroscopy. Results of this study reveal that NIR spectroscopy identified 100% homogeneous individual samples of botanical trash yielding an overall accuracy of 98% for the combination of botanical and field trash.