Studies on the impact of Spirulinaplatensis on the mulberry silk worm Bombyxmori (L)

Abstract

Nutrition plays a pivotal role in sericulture by improving the economical characters of silkworm. The silkworm be- ing a Monophagous insect derives almost all the nutrients required for its growth from the mulberry leaf itself. The spirulina is the best supplement protein for the production of good qualified cocoon. The influence of spiruli- na neutrality protein supplement enrichment with mulberry leaves on the energy and commercial characters of the silk wormBombyxmori L. was traced. Bombyxmori Larvae fed with mulberry leaves enriched with spirulina pro- tein showed significant enhancement in larval weight. Cocoon weight, Pupa weight, shell weight and biochemical studied. Spirulina with a concentration of 1gm were very effective. When compared to control mulberry leaves treated with spirulina feed larvae recorded a maximum (2.204g) cocoon weight (1.283g), pupa weight maximum (1.083g) and shell weight (0.206g). Various growth parameters like relative consumption rate (RCR) and the bio- chemical characters of protein (2.10), carbohydrate (16.35), amino acid (0.90) and lipid (0.064) also increased in spirulina enriched larvae where compared with control. The growth rate, weight gain, efficiency of conversion of ingested food (ECI) was enhanced by the spirulina supplementation. The present study was carried out to study the effect of spirulina supplementation protein in B.mori L.