Source: GENETIC LITERACY PROJECT, 11/14/18


Here’s a somewhat boring fact you might already know about cotton: It doesn’t make a good food, for humans or animals. Glands throughout the plant produce a toxic pigment called gossypol that limits its use as feed stock. For humans, we only use cottonseed oil, the processing of which negates the toxin. As a feedstock, cottonseed meal and crop residue is useful, but you have to be careful about rations to avoid toxicity. It’s safe for cattle, but not for hogs or poultry. You can let cattle graze a cotton field after harvest, but you don’t want to let your bull join in for a reason we’re about to get to. General signs of acute toxicity are similar among animal species and include respiratory distress, impaired body weight gain, anorexia, weakness, apathy, and death after several days.

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