Studies on cooking of tussah silk cocoon

Abstract

61-67<span style="font-size:11.0pt;line-height:115%; font-family:" calibri","sans-serif";mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-fareast-font-family:="" "times="" new="" roman";mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;mso-hansi-theme-font:="" minor-latin;mso-bidi-font-family:calibri;mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-latin;="" mso-ansi-language:en-us;mso-fareast-language:en-us;mso-bidi-language:ar-sa"="">An attempt bas been made to optimize the cooking conditions of tussah silk cocoon (Antheraea mylitta D.) with ethylenediamine using the Box and Behnken factorial design for three variables and three levels for each variable. It is observed that the duration and temperature of treatment as well as the concentration of ethylenediamine significantly influence the cocoon shell weight loss and silk filament recovery. Silk recovery improves with the shell weight loss of up to 11.5% after which no further improvement in silk recovery is observed. The mechanical properties of tussah silk filament have very little correlation with the process parameters. For better silk recovery, the following cooking conditions are recommended: ethylenediamine, 10% on the weight of cocoon; temperature, 80ᵒC; duration of treatment, 30 min; and meterial-to-liquor ratio, 1:30. Different races of tussah silk cocoon require adjustment in the duration of treatment. The hardness of water up to 1100 ppm has no significant effect on the recovery of silk in ethylenediamine cooking system.</span