Indigenous knowledge of oak tasar silk cocoon cooking and a method of its improvement using pineapple extract

Abstract

Oak tasar (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">Antheraea proylei</i> J.) cocoons are difficult to reel due to high amounts of protein tannin complexes. Traditionally the tasar cocoons are cooked in an earthen pot for 5-6 hrs with approximately 1 % sodium carbonate or are cooked for 24 hrs with ashes of paddy husk and banana leaf. Cocoons are then reeled in semi-moist condition on an inverted face of an earthen pot or on thigh of the reeler. This traditional method employed gives relatively low reeling performance<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"> and low fuel efficiency. To overcome the drawbacks of the traditional methods<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal">,</b> studies were carried out to develop a novel, simple<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal">,</b> economic and effective oak tasar cocoon cooking and reeling method readily accessible to the common tasar silk reelers and weavers using pineapple extract which is abundantly available in the North eastern states of India. The proteolytic activity of the pineapple extract helps in partial solubilisation of the proteinaceous silk gum (sericin) involved in binding the silk (fibroin) strands together in silkworm cocoon. Cocoon cooking by the standardized enzymatic procedure developed during the present investigation, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">viz.</i> pressure cooking for 30 minutes and soaking in pineapple extract for 12 hrs at room temperature gives a very high reeling performance as compared to traditional method.

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