One of the most common methods of cotton seed delinting is the use of sulfuric acid to dissolves the cellulosic structure. Not only, sulfuric acid with high corrosive power causes high risk for environmental pollution and labor, but also it destroys the seed coat and embryo if it penetrates into the seed. The persistence of sulfuric acid on the shell of acid-delined seeds causes gradual destruction of the shell, seed germination, and reducing the storage time of acid-diluted cotton seeds.

In a new innovative method, which has been done for the first time in Iran by Dr. Nowrouzieh, Associate Professor and faculty member of the Cotton Research Institute, sulfuric acid was replaced with an odorless, colorless, non-toxic, water-soluble, and non-destructive organic substance. Lobar safety, environment-friendly, renewability and increase warehousing of seeds are other benefits. This new substance, all seed delinting factories that have been shut down due to problems with sulfuric acid can restore to the seed production process again. This achievement, which is the result of a research project at the Cotton Research Institute, was successfully tested on 15 tons of elite seeds of Golestan cultivar in the laboratory and delinting factory in Gorgan. The Cotton Research Institute is ready to share this achievement in the form of Transfer of Technology (TOT).