Variations of Mature Cotton Fiber Tensile Properties: Association with Seed Position and Fiber Length

Abstract

Variations in single fiber tensile properties of mature cotton fibers are investigated with respect to their association with seed positions and fiber-length groups within individual locules. Fibers from five varieties representing four cultivated cotton species (G. herbeceiitii, G. arboreion, G. hirsirtirnz, and G. barbadense) are included in this study. With the exception of G. arboreiittz, breaking forces, toughness, and linear density are highly dependent on the seed position in the locule, and the dependence is especially high for G. herbeceririz and G. barbadense. Fibers from seeds located closer to the main stem have higher breaking forces and linear densities, indicating their association with the distribution of nutrition resources. The relationships between single fiber tensile properties and fiber lengths vary among these cotton species. Breaking force and tenacity are independent of fiber length for G. barbadense, whereas fiber-length dependence is positive for G. herbeceiuii and G. arborewn, and there is a negative trend for the Maxxa variety of G. hirsirtirnz. For G. herbeceirm and G. arboreum, longer fibers have higher breaking forces, whereas the opposite is true for Maxxa. Single fiber breaking elongation decreases with increasing fiber length for all except G. barbadense. Overall variations of single fiber tensile properties are associated more strongly with the seed position in the locule than with the fiber length.Fiber length, strength, and fineness are commonly recognized as the most essential cotton fiber qualities by which mechanical processing (yam spinning, weaving, and knitting), product quality, and market value are determined. These cotton fiber qualities depend on a complex combination of factors associated with genotype and growth environment [l-3, 9-1 1, 141.Cotton fiber properties have been extensively studied, mostly by fiber bundle measurements because of the time-consuming nature of single fiber measurements [3]. Many have attempted to find the relationship between the mean values of single fiber properties and those of fibrous assemblies [3,5,[15][16][17]. The comprehensive fiber quality index (FQI) was introduced for this purpose [4, 12, 13, 151. Of all the qualities, fiber tenacity has been determined to be the chief fiber trait associated with yarn quality [3, 4, 151. Fiber bundle tenacity depends on individual single fiber ienacity as well as the uniformity of single fiber breaking elongation. If all fibers within a bundle have equal breaking elongation and no slack, the fiber bundle tenacity will be equal to the mean single ' Corresponding author: r w i l ylhsieh@ucdavis.edu, telephone (530) 752-0543. fiber breaking tenacity. In reality, bundle tenacity is lower because of the non-uniformity of fiber breaking elongation. The loss in bundle efficiency of tensile properties has been shown to range from 46% to 53%, depending on the uniformity of the fiber breaking elongation in the fiber bundles [17].To project product qualities, therefore, it is essential to have a better...

Effects of Irrigation, Cultivar, and Plant Density on Cotton Within‐Boll Fiber Quality

“…Lower maturity ratio occurred close to the apex of the locule (Table 2). Liu et al (2001), studying the individual fi ber strength by seed position in the locule, found that the breaking strength was lower at the apex. If there is lower maturity at the apex (i.e., less cellulose deposition), the fi bers should logically be weaker, which confi rms the validity of this fi nding.…”

Understanding the variability of vegetable fibres: a case study of harakeke (Phormium tenax)

“…7,9,15,18,20,22,23 The effect of developmental stage or age of the plant part harvested on fibre tensile properties has been investigated for a number of plant species. 3,4,7,8,10,24,25 In bast and leaf species, fibre tensile properties tend to increase with distance from the meristem of the plant, at a number of structural levels. For example, 'fibre elasticity E 0 ' (measured using dynamic mechanical thermal analysis) of kenaf (Hibiscus cannibus) bast fibre reportedly increased from the apex of the plant stem (youngest plant tissue) to the base (oldest plant tissue) 25 .…”

“…Internal factors include developmental stage, [3][4][5] the plant part processed for fibre, 6 and the structural level sampled within the plant. [7][8][9][10] External factors include environmental or growth conditions, 11,12 the method used to extract the fibre 2 and the methods used to test the fibre once it is extracted. 1,2 Despite these issues, fibre properties have been used to characterise differences among cultivars (cultivared varieties) or genotypes within a species, usually as an important source of information for breeding programs in commercial crops such as cotton (Gossypium spp.)…”

Distribution of Single Fiber Tensile Properties of Four Cotton Genotypes

“…Single fiber tensile properties are critical to the processing efficiency of cotton fibers into products and the quality of these products. The mean single fiber tensile properties and their variations have been reported to have significant effects on fiber bundle and yarn strengths (2,6,(12)(13)(14). Suh et al [13,14] reported that efficiency loss of tensile properties in a fiber bundle was largely (46%) due to variations in the single fiber breaking elongation and, to a lesser degree (7%), to the slack in the fiber bundles.…”

“…The sources of variations in single fiber tensile properties are many. It is generally agreed that the tensile properties of cotton fibers are dependent on genotype, environmental or growth conditions, and competition for nutritional resources [1,5,6,9,10]. Variations in single fiber tensile properties have mainly been reported for fibers of varying unknown sources, since bale mixing is a common practice in textile processing.…”