Utilization of some volatile and fixed oils in silkworm diets: a novel strategy for maximizing silk production

Document Type : Original Article

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Plant Protection Research Institute, Agriculture Research Center, Dokki, Giza, Egypt

Abstract

The purpose of the present research is to utilize natural oils such as citronella oil (CO) (Cymbopogon nardus), lemon grass oil (LO) (Cymbopogon citratus), the mixture of (fresh and used sunflower, Helianthus annuus L. and soybean, Glycine max L.) oils combined in a 1:1 ratio and jojoba oil (JO) as nutritional additives for silkworm, Bombyx mori. Results reported that CO gave the highest larval weight at all concentrations whereas; the lowest larval weight was recorded with the treatment of mulberry leaves by LO. The highest larval duration was noticed by the larval treatment of sunflower and soybean mixture at 5 % and 2.5 %, respectively whereas; CO treatment recorded the lowest larval duration. The larval mortality showed thatjojoba, (Simmondsia chinensis) oil at all concentrations decreased the mortality of 5th larval instar. Moreover, the outcomes of biochemical studies explained that all treatments resulted in a decrease in the activity of AST enzyme, whereas the same treatments increased the activity of ALT enzyme. The Acetylcholinesterase activity significantly decreased with tested oils, particularly CO and JO. Furthermore, the activities of chitinase increased in the larvae treated with JO. Finally, the highest Total soluble proteins and Total lipid contents were obtained in the hemolymph of larvae treated with a concentration of 0.06 % LO. The data indicated that jojoba oil (JO) had the most positive impact on the most investigated parameters among the oils tested. In contrast, the used mixture of sunflower oil and soybean oil (UO) exhibited the least effect on the silkworms when compared to the control group.

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