Investigation of fiber maturity measurement by cross-sectional image analysis and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy on developing and developed upland cottons

Abstract

Cotton fiber maturity is an important fiber physical and quality property that impacts downstream fiber processing. Fiber maturity refers to the degree of secondary cell wall thickening. The reference method for fiber maturity measurement is to quantify the secondary cell wall area relative to the perimeter of the fiber via cross-sectional image analysis, a tedious and slow process. A number of approaches have been developed which attempt to measure fiber maturity rapidly. The approach employed in this work is based on the use of attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and simple algorithms were developed from the spectra to estimate fiber maturity directly. To validate the efficacy of this approach against cross-sectional image analysis, two distinct fiber sets were examined that included a set of developing fibers and a diverse set of developed fibers. Comparison of image analysis and infrared maturity results imply a consistency and equivalency between the two maturity measurements.