For thousands of years, silks were known to be as a valuable material native to the ancient Chinese Empire, and it was the cause for the birth of the famous trade route – the Silk Road. To produce good silk, the contribution of quality silkworms and cocoons is indispensable. We would like to introduce how silkworm cocoons were created, what other uses they have and their export potential.
The process of forming silkworm cocoons
During the pupal stage (3-8 days), silkworms produce a liquid and insoluble protein called friboin. When air touches this liquid protein, it starts to get hard slowly. Then, the silkworm continues to secrete a glue-like substance known as sericin that helps small silk fibers to bond together. The silk is twisted about 800,000 for each cocoon into figure-eight shape. It takes a silkworm less than two days to spin silk over a distance of almost a kilometer.
The moths come out of their cocoon when they hatch and end up destroying it right after that. Therefore, silk should be collected prior to the pupae becoming butterflies.
Types and precious value of silkworm cocoons
There are two types of silkworm cocoons: yellow silkworm cocoons can be harvested throughout the year while the other kind is known as white silkworm cocoon that usually harvested only in rainy season. Yellow silkworm cocoons possess higher nutritive characteristics in comparison with that of white silkworm’s cocoon.
Besides being a material to produce silk, silkworm cocoons are also used as an ingredient in the production of cosmetics, soap and toothpaste. It is also an excellent source of minerals, vitamins, proteins, and fats that are also valuable nutriments to human body. Silkworm pupa is one of the most important sources in medicine, pharmaceuticals, food additive, and animal feeding for some bio-active compounds.
Superb beauty treatment
As it is composed of friboin and sericin and other essential ingredients such as silk protein and 12 special types of amino acids, support the skin care and nourishment process extremely effectively.
The efficacy of silk cocoon based skin care formulations on slowing down skin aging and promoting skin radiance is now gaining acceptance among experts. Silk extract takes away sebum, toxins as well as keratinaceous debris when used in combination with other products on the skin. In the meanwhile, the active components seep through to the inner layers of the skin.
In addition, another technology has been developed by a biological laboratory in Japan that enables genetically engineered silkworms to synthesize human collagen. This helps with some problems as normal cosmetic products from fish-based collagen that has higher chances of causing an allergic attack.
Viet Nam Silk-cocoons’ export potential
The Directorate Department of Agriculture and Rural Development in the Lam Dong Province revealed that during the first half year of 2023, estimated total production of silkworm cocoons was approximately 6375 tones all over the province. This amount of cocoon production rose by about 1.2% compared to that of 2022. As the prices of cocoons haven’t changed so much since last year, farmers plan to increase mulberry fields, purchasing improved tools and mulberry-breeding technologies in order to boost silk production and increase cocoon yield in silkworms.
The majority of silk cocoons are sold and carried to silk spinning plants in the province, and then spun and transformed into commodities for export, and some silk goes straight into finished manufactures which meet internal consumption demands and export. In addition, information indicates that Lam Dong exports more than nine million dollars worth of silk every year, resulting in income for these farmers or silk businesses.
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Source: LinkedIn
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