Cookbook:Cottonseed

Cottonseed or cotton seed refers to the seed of the cotton plant separated from the bulk of the fiber.

Characteristics
The seeds are small and brown in color, sometimes covered in residual white fiber. The flavor is described as nutty and chickpea-like. Cottonseed is nutritionally dense, but its use as food is complicated by its content of gossypol, a compound toxic to humans. The seeds can be processed to lower the gossypol content—however, when cooking with cotton seed it is best to use a cultivar bred for low to no gossypol content.

The seeds can also be processed to extract cottonseed oil, which is refined to remove the toxic gossypol and then used in cooking.

Use
To use cottonseed in cooking, it may be soaked and ground to produce a plant milk, analogous to soy milk, almond milk, and others. Cottonseed is also used to make a Nigerian cottonseed soup and an Indian beverage called paruthi paal. Cottonseed oil is used like other vegetable oils for frying, dressings, and more.