Cottonseed meal

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Cottonseed meal is the byproduct remaining after cotton is ginned, the oil extracted, and the seeds crushed. Cottonseed meal is usually used for animal feed and in organic fertilizers.{{cite web|last=Card|first=Adrian|title=CMG Garden Notes #234 Organic Fertilizers|url=http://cmg.colostate.edu/gardennotes/234.pdf|publisher=Colorado State University Extension|accessdate=19 April 2011|author2=David Whiting|author3=Carl Wilson|author4=Jean Reeder|page=3|year=2009|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721180346/http://cmg.colostate.edu/gardennotes/234.pdf|archivedate=21 July 2011}}

Cottonseed meal is about 40 percent protein by weight.{{cite web|last=Jacob|first=Jacquie|title=Cottonseed Meal in Poultry Diets|website=Extension.org|date=2022|accessdate=May 11, 2022|url=https://poultry.extension.org/articles/feeds-and-feeding-of-poultry/feed-ingredients-for-poultry/oilseed-meals-in-poultry-diets/cottonseed-meal-in-poultry-diets/}} Compared to cellulose and lignin, proteins decompose rapidly and release nitrogen.{{cite web|last=Ernest|first=Malea Garver|title=Weekly Crop Update: Mulching Blueberries|website=University of Delaware|date=May 8, 2015|accessdate=May 11, 2022|url=https://sites.udel.edu/weeklycropupdate/?p=7967}} Unweathered, light-colored plant material such as hay, autumn tree leaves, sawdust, straw, woodchips, and wood shavings are nitrogen deficient, and do not decompose easily. Cottonseed meal, which is rich in nitrogen, is often mixed with these types of materials to improve decomposition speed.{{cite book|last=Campbell|first=Stu|title=Mulch It!: A Practical Guide to Using Mulch in the Garden and Landscape|location=Pownal, Vt.|publisher=Storey Books|date=2001|isbn=9781580173162|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2rywY0P6c4QC|pages=18–19, 33}}

Whole cottonseed can be fed to ruminants like cattle, goats, and sheep but should not be fed to poultry. Cottonseed meal should only be fed to adult ruminants, as immature animals have less well-developed digestive systems. Cottonseed meal also contains gossypol and cyclopropenoid fatty acids. Gossypol is also highly toxic to monogastrics.{{cite web|last=Morgan|first=Sandra|title=Gossypol Toxcicity in Livestock|url=http://pods.dasnr.okstate.edu/docushare/dsweb/Get/Document-1952/VTMD-9116.pdf|publisher=Oklahoma State University|accessdate=19 April 2011}} Cyclopropenoid fatty acids can have a number of effects, some adverse, such as reduced fertility in laying hens; alterations in the composition of fatty acids in blood plasma, the heart, the liver, and the ovaries; the slowing of growth in young animals; and B vitamin deficiency.{{cite journal|last=Shone|first=G.G.|title=Adverse effects of cyclopropenoid fatty acids|journal=Proceedings of the Nutrition Society|date=1966|volume=25|issue=1|doi=10.1079/pns19660009|pages=38–40|pmid=5953351 |s2cid=2387792 |doi-access=free}} The protein in cottonseed meal is also low in lysine.

Glandless cottonseed was developed in the early 1960s.{{cite journal|last1=Luses|first1=E.W.|last2=Jividen|first2=G.M.|title=Glandless cottonseed: A review of the first 25 years of processing and utilization research|journal=Journal of the American Oil Chemists' Society|date=June 1987|volume=64|issue=6|pages=839–854 |doi=10.1007/BF02641491|s2cid=93455770 }} Cottonseed meal derived from glandless cottonseed contains almost no gossypol.