In the U.S.A., cotton is classed (primary quality parameters) by the Uster ® High Volume Instrument (HVI), which must be maintained under tightly controlled laboratory environmental conditions. Improved and fast response quality measurement systems and tools are needed to rapidly assess the quality of cotton. One key area of emphasis and need is the development and implementation of new fast-response quality measurements that can be used not only in the laboratory but which also can be adapted to field and at-line quality measurements. A program was implemented to determine the ability of portable nearinfrared (NIR) instrumentation to monitor critical fiber properties of cotton samples in the laboratory, at-line, and in the field, with initial emphasis on the laboratory measurement of cotton fiber micronaire. Micronaire is a key cotton property, and it is an indicator of the fiber's maturity and fineness. Distinct NIR spectral differences between samples with varying micronaire were observed. A comparative evaluation was performed to determine optimum instrumental conditions for laboratory cotton micronaire measurements. The comparative evaluation established that the optimum instrumental conditions for laboratory measurements of micronaire was obtained with the use of a glass-covered sampling port and increased instrumental gain, with high R 2 values, low residuals, and with ≤ 12% outliers. For a NIR measurement with potential for multiple simultaneous analyses and non-laboratory measurements, the micronaire measurement was fast (< 3 min per sample) and easy to perform. The rapid and accurate laboratory measurement of cotton fiber micronaire with portable NIR instrumentation was demonstrated.

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A commonly-used standard method for measuring cotton fiber moisture is the oven-drying method (moisture content equal weight loss). However, several commercial instruments are available for measuring fiber moisture content. A comparative evaluation program was implemented to determine the capabilities of laboratory moisture instrumentation/methods and to develop a standard format to quickly compare different units (logistical and technical attributes). Fifteen instruments were evaluated and compared to an oven-drying (reference) method. The best measurement agreements to the reference method were obtained for most small oven analyzers and near-infrared (NIR) analyzers, with few outliers and low residuals. A comprehensive comparative matrix was developed to assist the user decision-making process for selecting the best overall instrument to meet their fiber moisture measurement needs.