Influence of Micronutrients on the Food Consumption Rate and Silk Production of Bombyx mori (Lepidoptera: Bombycidae) Reared on Mulberry Plants Grown in a Mountainous Agro-Ecological Condition.

Lalfelpuii Ruth,Guruswami Gurusubramanian,Sarathbabu Subbarayan,Nachimuthu Senthil Kumar,Souvik Ghatak,Bidyut Nath Choudhury,Tang Bin

doi:10.3389/fphys.2019.00878

Abstract

The study involves analyzing the performance of bivoltine Bombyx mori larvae reared on different host plants varieties. The consumption rate (CR) of different strains of B. mori was high when fed with Jorhat and TR10 mulberry plant varieties. Jorhat and TR10 mulberry plant varieties were found to contain significant amount of calcium, potassium, magnesium and phosphorus. Local (Hmute) mulberry plant variety had high amount of protein, carbohydrate and reducing sugar. Majority of the B. mori strains reared on Jorhat and TR10 mulberry plant varieties had high level of fibroin protein which resulted in increased silk productivity than those larvae reared with other mulberry varieties. The filament length was higher when reared on Jorhat and TR10 mulberry plant varieties. CSR4 × CSR2, FC1 × FC2, and FC2 × FC1 strains reared on Jorhat and TR10 mulberry plant varieties performed well in terms of economic parameters. Proteins and other nutrients in combination with high levels of micronutrients are very much essential for better silk quality. The present study attempted to identify the most suitable host plants for silkworm rearing under mountainous agro-ecological conditions which can lead to sustainable production of silk in relation to physiological and economic parameters.

Highlights

Sericulture is a sustainable, eco-friendly and agro-forestry oriented trade comprising cultivation of mulberry plant varieties, rearing of silkworms, and production of silk
Water content, potassium, and calcium were highest in TR10 and lowest in the BC2-59 mulberry plant variety
The present work was performed to study the comparative analysis of different mulberry plant varieties to evaluate differences in their biochemical nutritive values and their physiological effect on different strains of B. mori

Summary

Introduction

Sericulture is a sustainable, eco-friendly and agro-forestry oriented trade comprising cultivation of mulberry plant varieties, rearing of silkworms, and production of silk. It is one of the most labor-intensive sectors and has played a critical role in rural development and economic growth. Most of the marketable silk around the world is being produced from the mulberry silkworm, Influence of Host Plant Minerals in Bombyx mori. Besides the influence of environmental factors, the silk productivity is related to the quantity and quality of mulberry leaves (Nagaraju, 2002). Development of silkworm is greatly influenced by the nutrient composition of the mulberry host leaves, which is the determining factor of the quality of silk (Jyothi et al, 2014). Pioneering research has proved that deficiency of certain nutrients or imbalance of nutrient on the diet affects the digestibility and metabolic activity of larvae (Waldbauer, 1964)

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