Soybean, rapeseed, cottonseed, etc. are often used to extract oil, and the oil cake after oil extraction is generally not discarded, because it can be used as feed or fertilizer, but the cottonseed oil cake should not be used as feed at will, because the cottonseed cake contains a toxic component——gossypolGossypol is a toxic substance contained in cottonseed, cottonseed hull, cottonseed cake and cottonseed meal. It is a derivative of naphthalene. If only a small amount of cottonseed cake is given in the animal feed, it will not cause poisoning. In general, gossypol poisoning mainly occurs in pigs, but there are also records of poisoning in cattle and sheep. Gossypol poisoning refers to the long-term feeding of a large number of cottonseeds, cotton hulls, cottonseed cakes and cottonseed meal. A chronic toxic disease caused by the accumulation of toxic gossypol in the body, especially in the liver. Its clinical features are digestive disorders, systemic edema, hepatitis, gastroenteritis and acidosis, with neurological symptoms or jaundice.

    In the process of oil production, due to steaming, frying, pressing and other thermal effects. Most gossypol combines with protein and amino acids to form bound gossypol, which is not absorbed by animals in the digestive tract of animals, so its toxicity is very small. The other part of gossypol exists in the cake and oil in free form, which is highly toxic to animals. In particular, excessive intake or long intake time of monogastric animals can lead to growth retardation, decline in reproductive performance and production performance, and even death. Young animals have lower tolerance to gossypol. Gossypol exists in cotton cake in two forms, namely, combined gossypol and free gossypol. The former is non-toxic and the latter is toxic. In general, when the free gossypol content in the diet of calves reaches 100 mg / kg and the free gossypol content in the diet of adult cattle reaches 150 mg / kg, poisoning can be caused. In the production of dairy cows, cotton leaves, cotton stalks and cottonseeds (cotton stalks) are also used as forage to feed dairy cows in some areas. The author believes that these substances still contain a small amount of gossypol, which should be considered and appropriately reduced the safe use range of cottonseeds (shells, cakes and cottonseed meal) in large-scale feeding. At the same time, lactating calves and cows in late pregnancy are highly sensitive to excessive consumption of cottonseed cake, and it is best not to feed. For adult cattle, the feeding amount should be strictly controlled and not too much. In order to prevent cumulative poisoning, the method of stopping feeding can be adopted.

    It is a pity to discard cottonseed cake directly, but when it is used as feed, we also need to pay more attention to the usage and dosage. It cannot be fed at will, causing unnecessary losses such as poisoning or death of livestock.