Handbook of Cotton Fiber

Cotton is the most important natural textile fiber, as well as cellulosic textile fiber, in the world, used to produce apparel, home furnishings, and industrial products. Worldwide about 38% of the fiber consumed in 2004 was cotton. Cotton is grown mostly for fiber but it is also a food crop (cottonseed)-the major end uses for cottonseeds are vegetable oil for human consumption; whole seed, meal, and hulls for animal feed; and linters for batting and chemical cellulose. Cotton fibers are seed hairs from plants of the order Malvales, family Malvaceae, tribe Gossypieae, and genus Gossypium. Cotton fiber is one of the most widely used cellulosic fibers in the textile industry because of its excellent properties over the other, especially synthetic ones. Some are availability, lightweight, low density, low cost, biodegradability, air permeability, comfort, etc. Cotton is a warm-weather plant, cultivated in both hemispheres, mostly in North and South America, Asia, Africa, and India (in tropical latitudes).