Comparative analyses of a maturity distributional parameter evaluating immature fibre contents by references microscopic analysis and conventional fibre measurement methods

Abstract

Reducing maturity variations within cotton materials is important in the textile industry for improving quality of end-products and processing performance. Within-sample variation in cotton fibre maturity can be measured by Advanced Fiber Information System (AFIS) or Cottonscope in terms of maturity distributions and immature fibre content (IFC). However, they have been neither utilized broadly nor characterized well. Thus, we compared mean maturity, maturity distribution curves, and IFC values of the cotton reference materials measured by the AFIS, Cottonscope, and reference microscopic method. Comparative analyses showed mean maturity represents a complex fibre trait composed of mature, immature, and severely immature fibres within each reference material, and the IFC determined by three methods with a common threshold shows strong and significant correlations despite the differences in their distribution curves. Understanding of advantages and limits of the distributional parameter may improve the way of evaluating fibre maturity variation within and among cotton samples.