Extraction and characterization of silk sericin

Abstract

Study compares the quality and quantity of sericin obtained from four sources, namely mulberry silk cocoons, silk flats, reeling silk waste and woven silk fabric. Sericin has been extracted using the conventional HTHP machine as well as IR heating machine. Results show that among the four sources, the maximum yield of sericin (28%) is obtained from silk fabric followed by 25% sericin obtained from silk flats. IR machine extraction gives ~13 times higher yield of sericin as compared to that obtained by HTHP at 100⁰C for 60 min. Sample obtained from IR extraction is also compared with the standard sample in terms of its physical properties, morphological structure, protein quality, protein structure, molecular weight and thermal behaviour using various analytical methods. The study proposes a protocol for assessing the quality of sericin protein. Since the source as well as the method of extraction can affect the properties of sericin, this protocol can be used to assess and determine the quality parameters of various sericin samples.