Study on weight loss and moisture regain of Silk Cocoon shells and Degummed Fibers from African Wild Silkmoths
Date
2011Author
Nguku, E
J, Onyari
A, Teshome
SK, Raina
Type
ArticleLanguage
enMetadata
Show full item recordAbstract
A study was conducted to determine weight loss and moisture regain properties of silk cocoon
shells, shell layers and degummed fibers of the four African wild silkmoths Anaphe panda, Argema
mimosae, Epiphora bauhiniae and Gonometa postica and compare with the industry standard mulberry
silkmoth, Bombyx mori. No. significant difference was observed between the moisture regain of the
wild silk fibers after degumming. However, there were significant differences in weight loss and
moisture regain between cocoon shells as well as shell layers. E. bauhiniae had the lowest weight loss
and moisture regain of 23.19 and 5.64%, respectively while G. postica had the highest weight loss and
moisture regain, 56.84 and 9.05%, respectively. The SEM micrographs also showed the presence of
remnant sericin gum on the fibers surface. In both A. panda and E. bauhiniae, the outer shell layers
had the lowest moisture regain and highest weight loss while the inner layer of E. bauhiniae and
middle layer of A. panda lost the least weight. The physical structure and chemical composition of
the cocoon shells and fibers contribute towards the variation in the moisture regain and weight loss
and these features may have commercial implications due to their direct effect on the resulting
fabric
Citation
Study on weight loss and moisture regain of Silk Cocoon shells and Degummed Fibers from African Wild Silkmoths, Teshome A, , Vollrath F, Kabaru JM, Onyari J, EK Nguku, and Nguku , Journal of Entomology , Volume 8, Issue 5, p.450-458, (2011) copy at http://profiles.uonbi.ac.ke/jonyari/publications/study-weight-loss-and-moisture-regain-silk-cocoon-shells-and-degummed-fibers-afPublisher
Department of Chemistry