Effect of chemical defoliation on leaf and bract content in raw cotton

Chemical defoliants are applied to about 40% of the U.S. Cotton acreage as a harvest-aid practice prior to machine picking. Raw cottons derived from defoliated and nondefoliated fields were examined for content of bract and leaf trash Chemical defoliation lowered, but did not remove, leaf as a major trash component. The content of bract was unaffected by this harvest-aid practice. The histamine content in green leaf trash was 10X that found in nongreen leaf trash.