Effects of sodium carbonate and Sapindus laurifolia in combination on the degumming of Muga silk fibers

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Muga silk is the most important composite material used in textile manufacturing in India. Muga silk is derived from the Muga silkworms, namely Antheraea assamensis Helfer. The golden yellow silk yarn is the fanciest because it has strange properties like being able to handle different textures well, being bright, and lasting a long time. Fibrin (a fibrous protein) and sericin (a globular protein) are the two most important protein units that make up silk. To make silk usable in the textile business, sericin, a gum, has to be cleaned off the surface of the silk. Generally, surface active agents are used in the extraction of sericin from silk material. The present research describes a comparison between the degumming activity of a natural surfactant saponin isolated from Sapindus laurifolia and Sapindus laurifolia- mixed system. The effect of the salt on the degumming ability of Sapindus laurifolia is systematically studied and reported. The surface morphology of the raw and degummed silk fibers is compared using scanning electron microscope.