Effect of Processing Variants on the Nutritive Value of Cottonseed Meal for Chicks

THE nutritional value of cottonseed meals for non-ruminants varies greatly. In processing cottonseed meal, both preservation of protein quality and detoxification must be achieved. The present processes of extraction of the oil from cottonseed involve two major phases, cooking and pressing. The cottonseed meals must be cooked to increase the yield and quality of the oil (Olcott, 1941). Reports generally credit moist cooking at high temperature with inactivation of the gossypol, which compound has been shown by Lillie and Bird (1950) and Heywang, Bird and Altschul (1950) to account for the toxicity of cottonseed meal for poultry. Among others, Gallup (1927) and Lyman, Holland and Hale (1944) reported destruction or inactivation of gossypol under these conditions. The evidence of the effect of cooking on the nutritive value of cottonseed meal is more contradictory. Olcott and Fontaine (1941) found that steam autoclaving at high temperatures markedly reduced nutritive value of the . . .