Measurements of seed coat fragments in cotton fibers and fabrics

Abstract

Seed coat fragments (SCFs) are the parts of a seed coat that have been broken from the surface of either mature or immature seeds during mechanical processing. SCFs can cause spinning problems and fabric defects, which ultimately cause financial losses to the cotton industry. The objective of this study was to develop and evaluate an image-analysis tool that detects SCFs on fabrics and compares various methods of detection of SCFs in fiber and fabric. The first part of this paper looks at 12 international cottons (a broad range of cottons from distinctly different regions). The version called AFISPro is used in these studies. The SCFs in these fibers were measured by hand sorting, the Shirley Analyzer and the Advanced Fiber Information System (AFIS). The SCFs in the fabrics (made from the same cottons) were measured by hand counting and an automated image-analysis system (Autorate). The Autorate SCF fabric data had a high correlation with the hand-counting SCF fabric data. The same 12 international cotton samples and an additional 12 international cottons were used for the AFISPro studies, since AFISPro is much faster than hand sorting. Comparison of the fiber and fabric data showed a promising relationship between the AFIS SCF measurement and the SCF fabric data.