No more faking: Pima DNA identified

By Staff -- Home Textiles Today, 6/20/2008 1:17:00 PM

Stony Brook, N.Y. – Applied DNA Sciences (APDN) has developed a method to distinguish between Pima/Supima and regular Upland cotton in fiber and fabric. The test can now be used to authenticate products claiming to be made of Pima/Supima.

Previously, it had been impossible to identify one type of cotton from another once they had entered the production stream. The new test, commissioned by Supima, employs proprietary, patent-pending methodologies. The test will be marketed as FiberTyping, according to Dr. Benjamin Liang, APDN’s chief technology officer.

“We are committed to preserving the reputation of Supima cotton as the finest cotton in the world,” said Jesse Curlee, president of Supima, the promotional organization of American Pima cotton growers. “We believe that APDN’s developments will alter the face of the global cotton industry and favorably affect the demand curve.”

Along with FiberTyping, APDN has also developed a genetic assay known as PimaTyping to differentiate between extra long staple cotton from different regions of the world. “We believe that these assays will have important implications for U.S. cotton, both Pima and Upland, and for regulating international trade,” said APDN president and ceo James Hayward. 

Pima cotton is a generic name for extra-long staple cotton grown in the United States, Australia, Peru and in very limited production in a few other locations around the world. The primary differences between Pima (ELS growths) cotton and Upland cotton are staple length and strength of the fiber. In the US, cotton is considered to be ELS or Pima if it is an inch and 3/8 or longer.