Cotton Seed Oil Production

Cottonseed oil is a vegetable oil, not unlike peanut or olive oil. It is quite high in monounsaturated fat. Typically it is used in salad dressings or margarine and is generally mixed with other vegetable oils to create an end product. In cooking, it is used primarily for frying in commercial environments, especially in the production of corn and potato chips. It is also found in deserts, after hydrogenation, as a replacement for the much more costly butterfat. Cottonseed oil is yellow in color. It is slightly viscous in texture. Besides its various uses in food preparation, it is used in some pharmaceutical applications.

There are several health concerns regarding cottonseed oil. Unlike the much healthier palm oil from Africa, cottonseed oil is typically considered to contain unhealthy levels of saturated fats and not enough monounsaturated fat. Other concerns regarding toxins and pesticides exist. Because cotton is not considered a food crop, there are not as many regulations governing is cultivation and many of the farmers who sell their cotton seeds to oil producers use unhealthy agrochemicals during the growing season. This makes the resulting cottonseed oil potentially hazardous for human consumption.

Cottonseed oil production does have a long history. As early as the 1830’s, mills began producing the oil. Previously, cottonseed was viewed as a health hazard as well as an environmental hazard. The production process produces three distinct ingredients: linters, hulls and kernels. The hulls and linters are used for various purposes including industrial applications and livestock feed, while the kernel is further processed to produce cottonseed oil.

It is important that the kernels be properly processed in order to remove gossypol. Gossypol is a toxic pigment that is dangerous for humans to consume. Gossypol is located within tiny glands within the cottonseed. In order to alleviate this problem, scientists are attempting to develop a glandless strain of the seed. Further genetically altered stands, some of which contain as higher amount of oleic acid, have been developed as well. This has led to the growing popularity of cottonseed oil for use in cooking as well as salad oil production.

The United States produces vast quantities of cottonseed oil. They distribute the oil primarily to Canada, Mexico, El Salvador and Japan. China produces slightly more cottonseed oil than the United States each year. In 2002 the produced nearly 9.5 million metric tons as compared to the United States which exported nearly 50,000 million metric tons.

As consumers become more aware of the alternatives to animal and typical vegetable oil, the popularity of oils such as coconut, sunflower, palm and cottonseed oil has grown. A careful review of the nutrient content of the various oils does show that cottonseed oil, while used extensively because of its relatively inexpensive nature, is not as healthy as some of the other alternatives, most notably palm oil from Africa. It is possible that, with the development of genetically altered strains, a healthier version of cottonseed oil may become available.