Evaluating The Effect Of Silver Ions In Preservation Of Mulberry Leaves And Its Impact Over Silk Worm Rearing System

Research Article
Dipayan Das and Palash Mandal
DOI: 
http://dx.doi.org/10.24327/ijrsr.2018.0904.1939
Subject: 
science
KeyWords: 
Mulberry leaves, silver nitrate, silver thiosulphate, preservation, silk worm, cocoon parameters
Abstract: 

Present study was done to evaluate the effect of feeding preserved mulberry leaves over silk worm rearing system. After harvesting, leaves were preserved for seven days with two different silver salts at three different concentrations - silver nitrate (10, 50, 100 ppm) and silver thiosulphate (50, 100, 200 µM). Fresh leaves (0 day preservation) were taken as control. After seven days of preservation the leaves were given to fifth instar silk worm larvae for feeding. The result suggests that among the two silver salts, silver nitrate served as more effective preservative for protecting mulberry leaves than silver thiosulphate which was confirmed by analyzing the biochemical, phytochemical and antioxidant attributes of preserved leaves compared with control. Rearing parameters indicate that larvae fed with leaves preserved in 10 ppm silver nitrate solution showed best result while mortality rate increased among larvae when fed with leaves preserved with silver thiosulphate solution.