Cottonseed oil

“ Beef fat has a higher melting point than lard and cottonseed oil a much lower melting point, being liquid at ordinary temperatures. A mixture of beef fat and cottonseed oil may, therefore, be made, having approximately the same melting point as lard itself. The addition of this mixture to lard would not alter its melting point to any sensible extent. Instead of using the whole cottonseed oil for the purpose mentioned it may be previously chilled and its product of a higher melting point, or as it is sometimes called, the stearin of cottonseed oil, may be used for admixture with lard. ”

“ In the preparation of oil, however, no trace of these poisonous substances is found, since they exist solely in the non-fatty tissues of the seed. The production and refining of the oil has now grown to be a great industry and has already added much to the wealth of the cotton growers and the comfort and nutrition of the people in general.
Magnitude of the Cottonseed Oil Industry. —The average cotton crop of the United States is about 12,000,000 bales of about 500 pounds each. For every bale of cotton there is produced 1,000 pounds of seed. ”

“ The ordinary name of a pure and normal product, whether sold for food, drug, technical, or other purposes, is all that is necessary. Pure cottonseed oil or turpentine may be sold without any restrictions whatever, whether such article is sold for food, medicinal, or technical purposes, but it is suggested that a cottonseed oil intended for lubricating purposes, or a so-called turpentine consisting of a mixture of turpentine and petroleum oils, used by the paint trade, be plainly marked so as to indicate that they are not to be employed for food or medicinal purposes. ”

“ The press is also kept warm. The expressed cakes contain only about 10 percent of oil. The cake is sold as cattle food or for fertilizing purposes. The crude oil as thus expressed contains about 1.5 percent of free acid, also a notable quantity of water and solid matters in suspension. The manufacture of cottonseed oil usually takes place in the winter months immediately after the ginning of the cotton is completed. The oil is likely to become rancid if kept unpurified until the hot months. The crude oil is collected in oil tanks at the press and shipped to the refining houses. ”

“ As a by-product in the manufacture of starch and alcoholic liquids, this material comes into the market having a golden yellow color, and an odor resembling fermented grain. It has a lower drying value than cottonseed oil, and its use in the paint industry will probably be limited to color grinding, where an oil with a semi-drying value is often desired. Like cottonseed oil, it belongs more properly to the soap oil class. It contains glycerides of linoleic and especially palmitic acid. ”

“ The residual oil which is capable of remaining liquid at a low temperature by reason of the removal of a portion of its stearin, as above described, is known in the trade as winter oil. In this process of filtration fuller’s earth is frequently employed, which not only promotes the filtration but also absorbs and retains a large part of the color of the oil, which thus treated is [401] almost colorless. Where cottonseed oil is used for mixing with lard it is highly important that it be practically free of color. ”

“ Almond oil is often adulterated with other cheaper oils. Among these those which are principally used are cottonseed oil, walnut oil, poppyseed oil, sesamé, peanut, apricot-kernel and peach-kernel oil, and lard oil. ”

“ Silver Nitrate Test For Cottonseed Oil.—Investigations of Charabout and March throw some light on the value of this test in presence of olive oil. The free-fat acids obtained from cottonseed oil by saponification were treated in accordance with the method of Milliau on a water bath with a 3 per cent solution of silver nitrate, and the brown precipitate thus formed subjected to a chemical examination. It was found to consist chiefly of a brown silver salt composed of a fat acid melting at 52° F., and {483} congealing at 120° to 122° F., and of sulphide of silver. ”

“ Do not buy it of a grocer who exposes his bottles in the show window. If he does not know that sunlight spoils the best olive oil, he is not likely to know, or care, what the best oil is.
Among the adulterants used to cheapen olive oil small quantities of castor oil, lard oil, fish oil, and even petroleum have been found. More frequent are rapeseed and poppy-seed oil. Peanut oil is much used, but the most frequent adulterant is cottonseed oil, which costs only about one-fifth the price of high-grade olive [229] oil and therefore offers great temptation to the dealer. ”

“ Of course, a packer who understands something about the versatility of [Pg 102] cottonseed oil need never turn down orders for lard because the run of hogs is light, and a father who understands human nature can turn out an imitation parson from a boy whom the Lord intended to go on the Board of Trade. But on general principles it’s best to give your cottonseed oil a Latin name and to market it on its merits, and to let your boy follow his bent, even if it leads him into the wheat pit. If a fellow has got poetry in him it’s bound to come out sooner or later in the papers or the street cars ”

“ It is an unfortunate condition that hydrogenated oils produced abroad are sold under names which give absolutely no indication as to the oil which has been hardened. The softer and cheaper oils like fish oil, linseed oil, cottonseed oil, etc., are generally hardened for soap manufacture to different degrees of hardness. ”

“ Many oils absorb more than their own weight of iodin, while many others absorb very much less. Another characteristic of oil is found in the fact that with certain reagents, such as an acid either in a dilute state or in a concentrated state, definite colors are produced which are characteristic of the variety of oil in question. As an example of this may be cited the faculty which cottonseed oil has of reducing nitrate of silver to the metallic state, leaving the silver in that finely divided form which has a black color. ”

“ Whenever vegetable oils and fats contain any especial quantity of linoleic acid, or any other fatty acid which has drying properties, they are rendered more or less unfit for human consumption. The number of drying oils is very great, but the most important are linseed oil, hempseed oil, and poppyseed oil. Other vegetable oils have, to a certain degree, drying [392] properties, and among those which are most marked in this particular may be mentioned cottonseed oil, sesamé oil, maize or corn oil, and rapeseed oil. ”

“ The cotton fiber is subjected to further processes of cleaning, carding, etc., before it is ready to be manufactured into cloth fabrics, thread, etc.
Nearly all parts of the cotton plant find a use. After the cotton is picked, the stalks are burnt upon the fields or “plowed under” to serve as a fertilizer for the soil, which would otherwise become impoverished very rapidly. The bark of the root is collected and employed medicinally, its medicinal properties being highly lauded by the negroes of the South. The seeds yield the cottonseed oil, which is not unlike olive oil. ”

“ The natives, most of whom are Mohammedans and large oil consumers, have been educated to substitute cottonseed oil for the olive oil they formerly used, and the latter is now found only in the houses of the wealthy. ”

“ When pure and fresh they usually have little or no taste or smell; but, when exposed to the air, they become darker in color, have a disagreeable taste and smell, and are called rancid. As examples of vegetable oils we have cottonseed-oil, linseed-oil, olive-oil, almond-oil and cocoa-butter. Linseed is brought largely from Russia and India; Africa supplies palm-oil; India and the Pacific islands cocoanut-oil; while the best olive-oil is brought from Italy. In animal oils the principal ones are butter, lard, tallow, neatsfoot-oil and sperm-oil. ”

“ For good stock such as clean tallow, prime cottonseed oil, corn oil, cocoanut oil and stock of this kind 0.75 per cent. saponifier [Pg 117] is sufficient. For poorer grades of tallow, house grease, poor cottonseed oil, etc., 1 per cent. saponifier is required and for poorer grade greases higher percentages. The percentage of fatty acids developed varies in various stocks, and also varies with the care that the operation is carried out, but is usually between 85 per cent.-95 per cent. ”

“ Often such dealers will have at hand such a supply of usable stuff that they will establish other factories where their unused materials can be converted into cash. The sale of these products often increases very materially the profits of a business. Such a product is cottonseed oil. As millions more seeds mature each year than can possibly be used for planting why not turn them to account? Often there are from sixty-five to seventy-five pounds of seeds to a hundred pounds of cotton. ”

“ To neutralize this germ activity with a consequent production of toxins it seems most logical to employ such agents as have demonstrated their suitability for such purposes, for which reason Eucalyptol and Kreosote with Firwein are incorporated in FIROLYPTOL.”
The assertion that cottonseed oil is an especially valuable form of fat is without warrant, but even if it were true the fat is available in cheap and palatable forms in numerous other cottonseed oil products. ”

“ Since the discovery of the value of cottonseed products, the industry has grown rapidly. The oil is now used in cooking, is mixed with olive oil, is sold pure for salad oil, and is an important constituent of oleomargarine, lard substitutes, and soap, to name only a few of the uses to which it is put. The cake, or meal from which the oil has been pressed, is rich in nitrogen and is therefore valuable as fertilizer; it is also a standard food for cattle, and tentative experiments with it have even been made as a food for human beings. ”

“ Fat from soup and drippings need only be clarified before using for cooking; suet and other uncooked fat of meat must be first tried out.
(e) Vegetable Oils.—The oil from cottonseed, corn, and peanut is prepared for table use and sold under various trade names. Oil is also extracted from the olive. This is an extremely expensive oil. Its food value is no greater than that of other vegetable oils; only "olive flavor" is secured for the greater price. Refined cottonseed and corn oils are bland in flavor. Peanut has a characteristic flavor pleasing to most persons. ”

“ That is why it is used in painting. Such oils are called "drying" oils, although the hardening process is not really drying, since they contain no water, but is oxidation. The "semi-drying oils," those that will harden somewhat on exposure to the air, include the oils of cottonseed, corn, sesame, soy bean and castor bean. Olive oil and peanut oil are "non-drying" and contain oleic compounds (olein) . The hard fats, such as stearin, palmitin and margarin, are mostly of animal origin, tallow and lard, though coconut and palm oil contain a large proportion of such saturated compounds. ”

“ The products of cotton seed have become important elements in the national industry of the United States. The main product is the refined oil, which is used for a great number of purposes, such as a substitute for olive oil, mixed with beef products for preparation of compound lard, which is estimated to consume one-third of cotton seed oil produced in the States. ”

“ That there is a growing demand for cotton seed oil for table use and culinary purposes is evidenced by the increased business of merchants who make a specialty of filling fancy bottles with cotton seed oil." We are all familiar with the fancy bottles and the blatant claim that they contain pure olive oil. These so called merchants are engaged in deceiving the public, in endeavoring to palm off cotton seed oil for olive oil. Cotton seed oil is refined by treatment with alkaline carbonates and caustic alkalies, and this fact is sufficient to condemn it as a food oil. ”

“ The cotton growing States in America produce annually nearly three million tons of cotton seed. This, until very recently, has been thrown away as a useless incumbrance, but it is now valued at ten or twelve dollars per ton for the cotton fibre which adheres to it, for the oil extracted from it, and for the feed which the refuse furnishes to cattle. The oil—which may be described as neutral—is used very largely for mixing with other oils, many of which bear a large proportion of it without injury to their special properties. ”

“ Cotton seed oil is insoluble, and the solution obtained by heating the solution solidifies at 60° Fahr. to a white jelly. Sesame and peanut oil react in a similar manner. Sunflower oil dissolves, but at 60° a granular precipitate falls. Rape oil is entirely insoluble and floats like oil on the surface. Castor oil on the contrary dissolves completely, just like olive oil, and hence cannot be detected therein by this method. To detect this oil we must take the melting point of the acids along with the solubility of the oil itself in alcohol. ”

“ There are many other adulterants which are used in unison with cotton seed oil, such as sesame, palm nuts, hemp, cupra or sunflower, and a host of others of strange origin. It is not safe to say that these supposititious comestibles are always innocuous. Many an oil retains the subtle qualities of the plant which produced it, and it may be that obscure maladies which puzzle the doctor are not unfrequently caused by the detestable practice of supplying for the genuine article something which looks sufficiently like it to mislead, and, it may be, poison the hapless public. ”