Amino Acid and Dietary Fiber Profiles of Cottonseed Affected By Cropping and Fertilization Management Practices.

Whole cottonseed and its derived products can be used as human food, animal feed, and industrial raw material. Chemical composition is one of the critical parameters for evaluating cottonseed quality and potential end use.  Amino acids and dietary fibers are two desirable nutritional properties of cottonseed. In this study, we determined their contents in cottonseed harvested from different fertilization managements with or without wheat cover crop in two consecutive years. Both amino acid and dietary fiber profiles were consistent with those reported in literature; however, some changes in both profiles were observed among the seed samples. Generally, the cover crop management showed little impact. Fertilizer type (chemical vs. poultry litter) showed greater effects than the fertilizer application method (broadcast vs. subsurface band) and time (fall vs. spring). Further statistical analysis of these data is under way. Observations derived from this work will provide information on nutritional value and digestibility of cottonseed as affected by cropping management practices.