Cottonseed Oil

• Cottonseed oil, which is derived from cottonseed, is used as a cooking oil and can be found in food products such as shortening, mayonnaise, margarine and icing. It is a source of Vitamin E and essential fatty acids. It contains 70 percent unsaturated fatty acids, is cholesterol free, and does not require hydrogenation, making it a relatively healthy choice as a cooking oil.
  
  

Cottonseed Feed

• Feed products, which include cottonseed meal, cottonseed hulls and whole cottonseed are used to feed livestock. Cottonseed feed is high in fiber and protein -- cottonseed meal is second only to soybean meal in amount of plant protein. Cottonseed hulls are especially high in fiber, and have as much nutritional value as hay grass.
  
  

Production

• Seed is processed in a crushing mill, where it is cleaned and delinted, which means that the short fibers, called "linters," are removed from the seed. The linters are further processed chemically or mechanically and used in hundreds of products including food casings, plastics and films, toothpaste, hair care products, cosmetics and solid rocket propellants.
  
  

Breakdown

• Nearly 1,500 pounds of cotton is needed to make a 480 pound bale of cotton lint and 800 pounds of cottonseed. About 5 percent of these seeds, or 40 pounds, will be used as seed for planting. Approximately 150 pounds will be waste. Roughly 70 pounds of linters will be removed. The remaining 600 or so pounds of seed will be processed into feed and oil.