Livestock Science 226 (2019) 133–137

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Livestock Science
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/livsci

Production performance and economic traits of silkworms (Bombyx mori L., T

1758) fed with mulberry tree leaves (Morus alba, var. Ichinose) significantly
differ according to hybrid lines
⁎
R. Samamia, A. Seidavib, , N. Eilaa, M. Moarrefia, D.J. Ziajac, J.A. Lisc, N.G. Rubiud, M.G. Cappaie
a
Department of Animal Science, Karaj Branch, Islamic Azad University, Karaj, Iran
b
Department of Animal Science, Rasht Branch, Islamic Azad University, Rasht, Iran
c
Center for Biodiversity Studies, Department of Biosystematics, Opole University, Oleska 22, 45-052 Opole, Poland
d
Animal New Tech srl, Portici Crispo 3, 07100 Sassari, Italy
e
Chair of Animal Nutrition, Department of Veterinary Medicine of the University of Sassari, via Vienna n. 2 - 07100 Sassari, Italy

A R T I C LE I N FO A B S T R A C T

Keywords: Production performance of silkworm (Bombyx mori L., 1758) play a pivotal role in sericulture industry and good
Analytical hierarchy process quality cocoon represents the economic driver of farms. Silkworms are monophagus insects and differences
Cocoon between cocoon characteristics may depend both on mulberry tree leaves quality as well as on genetic selection
Digestive efficiency of hybrid lines. While a huge work was carried out to identify the best feeding sources to optimize yields, genetic
Hybrid line
types of silkworms with desirable production and economic traits were studied to a limited extent to date. This
Silk
experimental feeding trial was carried out using a commercial variety of mulberry tree leaves (Morus alba var.
Ichinose) to feed a total of 1600 silkworms in 4 replicates, allotted into 32 box consisting of 50 larvae each. Feed
consumption, manure production and feed conversion ratios were monitored throughout the experimental
period across five instars of 8 hybrid lines (200 larvae each). Efficiency, Profitability and Eco-compatibility were
identified as criteria to evaluate the best performing hybrid lines: in descending order hybrids 32 × 31,
153 × 154 and 104 × 103 have appeared the best in terms of feed conversion ratio to larva weight gain and to
cocoon weight, shell to cocoon ratio and wet manure per g of dry matter intake per silkworm. Our results point
to promising outcomes as to animal selection to improve yields of silk production at farm level. Sustainable and
modern sericulture industry can therefore point to raise genetically selected hybrid lines of silkworms together
with opportune feeding practices, to optimize feed conversions and rationalize manure in farms.

1. Introduction The silkworm is a monophagous insect that feeds only on leaves of

The silkworm is the larval form of the silkmoth (Bombyx mori L.,
1758), raised until the stage of pupa for the production of the cocoon.
Silkworm farming is known since ancient times and the literature dates
it back to the 28th–27th centuries BCE in China, where the production
process to obtain silk from cocoons originated (Rahmathulla, 2012).
Nowadays sericulture is spread to different Countries worldwide, but
the traditional silk production represents one of the earliest trading
network that connected Eastern Asian countries to Southern Europe, via
terrestrial and marine routes, across Middle Eastern and African
Countries. In 2014, UNESCO declared Chang'an-Tianshan corridor as
World Heritage Site. Currently, Iran is one of the main producing
countries, together with Asian and Indian Countries at global level,
whereas only a small scale silk production is based in Southern Italy.
mulberry tree, which varieties are known to have an impact on the
quality of silk produced (Ravikumar, 1988; Murugan et al., 1998;
Hiware, 2006). In fact, the literature reports that the nutritional value
of leaves plays a significant role for silkworm growth and production of
cocoons. In addition, different factors may affect mulberry tree quality,
such as environmental conditions and soil characteristics, or planting
and pruning of trees (Horie and Watanbe, 1980; Datta, 1992; Bongale
and Chaluvachari, 1995). Against this background, feed quality as-
sessment appears to represent the essential start point for producing
high quality and sustainable silk from silkworm farming (Ravikumar,
1988; Murugan et al., 1998; Hiware, 2006). Adequate feeding practices
throughout the different instar stages paves the way to cocoon mass and
yields with a direct impact on silk quality (Hamamura, 1959;
Hamamura et al., 1962; Ito, 1980). Nagata and Nagasava (2006)

⁎
Corresponding author.
E-mail address: alirezaseidavi@iaurasht.ac.ir (A. Seidavi).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.livsci.2019.06.015
Received 22 February 2019; Received in revised form 23 June 2019; Accepted 23 June 2019
Available online 24 June 2019
1871-1413/ © 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
R. Samami, et al.
approached the feeding practice of silkworm larvae throughout the
development from eggs into pupa and stated that the profitability of
silkworm farms basically relies on good cocoon shell production.
Moreover, selection strategies of silkworms were recently explored in
light of the most recent acquaintances by Zamani et al. (2019), pointing
to parental lines purification for best performing hybrids production as
a strategy. The identification of economic traits from parental line
purification would therefore help to improve selection strategies on the
basis of germoplasm value, above all if inappropriate breeding may lead
to unsatisfactory yields throughout generations. Currently, eight types
of commercial silkworm hybrids are produced in Iran, which are dis-
tributed among farmers (Seidavi et al., 2007; Mavvajpour et al., 2008;
Vaez Jalali et al., 2011; Mirhoseini and Seidavi, 2011). The basic bio-
logical characteristics of each variety are different (Seidavi et al., 2007;
Mavvajpour et al., 2008; Vaez Jalali et al., 2011; Mirhoseini and
Seidavi, 2011). In recent years, by performing breeding projects, the
parental lines of these hybrids have been isolated in the Iran Silkworm
Research Centre (Vaez Jalali et al., 2011; Mirhoseini and Seidavi,
2011). However, the purification process of the parental lines has, so
far, not been based on their digestive efficiency and conversion ratios.
Consequently, relative digestive efficiency, production performance
and economic traits are not available in the literature. It is also im-
portant to emphasize that silkworm farming is largely spread in Iran
and farmers rear all these eight types of hybrids, without taking into
account potential different outcomes, which may lead to unpredictable
yields and economic traits, thus increasing the risk of poor productions;
currently, nearly 50,000 boxes of commercial silkworm-hybrid eggs are
accounted to be bred in Iran (Zamani et al., 2019). Naskar et al. (2014)
reported that the largest silk producer is China, accounting the 79% of
global raw silk production, followed by India (17.5%), Japan, Brazil,
Korean Republic, representing the forefront of silk production, to which
Uzbekistan, Iran, Thailand and Vietnam contribute to the remaining
part. In light of this state of the art, the present investigation was un-
dertaken with the aim to fill the gap about the knowledge of production
performance related to 8 commercial Iranian silkworm hybrids by
means of a comparative approach to assess feed intake, conversion
ratios, approximate digestibility and manure production under con-
trolled feeding with mulberry tree leaves (Morus alba var. Ichinosa).
2. Materials and methods
2.1. Animals and feeding
The feeding trial took place at the experiment station of Silkworm
Research Centre, which is located in the Pasikhan district of Rasht.
Silkworm eggs from the 8 hybrid lines, including 31 × 32, 32 × 31,
103 × 104, 104 × 103, 151 × 154, 154 × 151, 153 × 154 and
154 × 153, were prepared and hatched. Eggs from every hybrid line
were allotted into four replicates consisting of 50 live larvae each. To
prevent the loss of larvae during the experiment, a number of additional
larvae from each hybrid line was reared as replacers. After weighing
and placing in hatching boxes, silkworm larvae were moved to the
hatching room, which is approximately 40 m2s in surface area, under
controlled conventional temperature and moisture (room temperature:
27–28 °C and relative air moisture: 85–90%, 1st to 3rd instar; room
temperature:24–26 °C and relative air moisture: 70–80%, 4th and 5th
instar). Fluorescent lamps were used in the hatching room and the hall.
The feeding plan was designed to carry out eight feeding trials, ac-
counting four replicates for each trial. Four trays (corresponding to
each treatment) were placed following one another, but adequately
separated. For this purpose, metal shelves (called Montan) were used.
Such procedure was adopted on each replicate to assure nearly identical
environmental conditions, meanwhile preventing different larvae of
different trays from mixing. Newly hatched larvae from each egg were
placed separately in breeding trays, after body disinfection by way of a
disinfectant powder (a mixture of 5% paraformaldehyde and 95%
134
Livestock Science 226 (2019) 133–137
Table 1
Chemical composition of mulberry leaves fed to silkworms.
Nutrients Mulberrry leave var. Ichinose
Dry matter (DM, g/kg as is) 224
Crude Ash (g/kg DM) 143
Organic matter (g/kg DM) 857
lime), and fed on mulberry leaves. The feeding practice of the young
caterpillars (first, second and third instar) was based on using mulberry
leaves which were appropriately chopped according to larval body size,
and trays coated with perforated paraffin foils to prevent rapid drying
of leaves on the cultured substrates. Feed was provided daily, based on
standard reference tables (ESCAP, 1993) using mulberry leaves of the
Ichinose variety (the most diffused variety) (Seidavi et al., 2005). The
chemical composition of mulberry leave is reported in Table 1.
Larvae were fed until maturity and feeding was stopped at the end
of each larval instar; in order to have proper and uniform molting, lime
disinfectant powder was used. The use of lime powder helps the waste
to keep dry and the debris in early instars, used also to preserve the leaf
litter and prevent silkworm disease. Weights of larvae were recorded at
the start and at the end of each instar. That way, also wet and dry
weights of offered mulberry leaves, leftovers and manure were recorded
at the beginning and at the end from the first to each instar stage on.
Cocoon and relative shell weights (wet and dry) were determined and
individual shell to cocoon ratio calculated.
Feed intake, feed conversion ratio (as the expression of feed con-
version to weight of larva and cocoon) as well as cocoon shell weight
ratios were calculated for each larva. In this regard, the larvae fed on
each repeat were fed as a group, and the production parameters were
calculated as an average value for each larva of respective hybrid line.
Dry matter (DM) in mulberry leaves in the first, second and third instar
was determined. The remaining leaves and the manure of first to fifth
instars were collected at the end of each instar and oven dried (105 °C
for 24 h) until constant weight. DM in leaves, leftovers and manure
were used to calculate approximate digestibility and feed conversion to
cocoon weight for each hybrid line. Manure production was evaluated
following the approach by Cappai et al. (2013), appropriately modified
for the scientific purposes of this investigation.
2.2. Analysis of data and statistics
Data were analyzed by using a one-way ANOVA according to each
hybrid line (8 in total), throughout the five instar stages, in four re-
plicates. An analytical hierarchy process (AHP) approach was used to
evaluate the different hybrid lines according to production performance
(Fig. 1). In particular, the hybrid lines were evaluated by way of three
criteria based on Efficiency, Profitability and Eco-compatibility. The
criterion Efficiency was based on feed conversion ratio to weight gain
as indicator 1 and to cocoon weight as indicator 2; the criterion Prof-
itability was based on cocoon weight as indicator 3 and shell to cocoon
weight ratio as indicator 4; the criterion Eco-compatibility was based
on wet manure to dry matter intake ratio as indicator 5. Weights were
attributed to each criterion by way of an adjusted matrix based on a
three-level score as follows: 1= alike; 2=preferable; 3= highly pre-
ferable. The adjusted matrix was created to calculate the weight for
each criterion as reported as Table 2. Significant differences of means
between parameters of production performance according to each hy-
brid line were used to score (1= worst to 8= best) indicators weighed
according to values attributed to the respective criterion of Efficiency,
Profitability and Eco-compatibility. Pearson's correlation analysis was
carried out among variables of interest.
R. Samami, et al. Livestock Science 226 (2019) 133–137

Fig. 1. Analytical hierarchy process (AHP) of efficiency, profitability and eco-compatibility criteria and respective indicators for the evaluation of production
performance and economic traits of 8 hybrid lines of Iranian silkworms.

Table 2 the gap on the knowledge of the production performance of different

Adjusted matrix of weights for the evaluation of production performance and hybrid lines currently raised by sericulturists in Iran. The purification of
economic traits of 8 hybrid lines of silkworms. paternal lines to select the distinct hybrid lines tested in this in-
Investigated criteria Average vestigation offered the opportunity to screen the production perfor-
Profitability Eco-compatibility Efficiency score mance accounting digestive efficiency, cocoon production and wet
manure outputs throughout the five instars, from egg to pupa. Digestive
Profitability 0.546 0.571 0.500 0.539
efficiency of the silkworm hybrids is genetically ruled (Yamamoto and
Eco-compatibility 0.273 0.286 0.330 0.297
Efficiency 0.182 0.143 0.167 0.167 Gamo, 1976; Kanda, 1992; ESCAP, 1993; Chinnaswamy et al., 2010;
Sabhat et al., 2011). However, environmental factors can affect pro-
duction performance. Muniraju et al. (1999, 2003) investigated the
3. Results impact of temperature on production performance using two multi- and
bi-generations, which indicated that the bi-generation race showed
Average results about production performance of each commercial higher conversion coefficients than multi-generation race. Meenal and
silkworm hybrid are summarized in Table 3. Values of each production Niynagi (1995) observed that feed utilization in multi-generation races
parameter were used to calculate the global score emerging from the is lower than in the bi-generation Japanese races. Leaf dry matter di-
analytical hierarchy process evaluation of hybrid lines tested. On ana- gestibility gradually decreases with increasing instar stages. Sub-
lysis of global score, hybrids 32 × 31, 153 × 154 and 104 × 103 stantially, the literature reports that crude fiber digestibility in silk-
displayed the highest total score compared to other hybrids. FCR and worms is lower than the digestibility of crude fiber observed in other
cocoon productions resulted significantly dependent on the different insects (Chapman, 1998). In fact, approximate digestibility of DM in
hybrid lines enrolled, as well as manure outputs. Total feed intake was silkworms observed in this trial ranges between 39 and 50.1%. Sig-
positively correlated (ρ = 0.677) in a highly significant way nificant differences could be detected among the different hybrid lines
(p = 0.0001) with cocoon weight. In addition, DM digestibility and wet enrolled and such differences reflected also wet manure produced every
manure outputs are inversely correlated (ρ = −0.528) in a highly g of dry matter intake. Cocoon weight represents the total weight of
significant way (p = 0.002). The cumulative score representing the pupa and shell. That way, cocoon weight is not synonymous of profit-
production performance of each hybrid line is reported in the graph ability per se if cocoon shell to cocoon ratio is not considered alongside.
(Fig. 2). Previous studies on the production of the silkworm (Seidavi, 2009; Vaez
Jalali et al., 2011) identified hybrid 31 × 32 as having the best per-
formance traits as to feed utilization, but cocoon and manure produc-
4. Discussion
tion were not weighed and scored in the overall evaluation. Shell to
cocoon weight ratio may be considered as an economic trait of
The rationale behind this investigation moved from the need to fill

Table 3
Production performance of silkworms of the 8 hybrid lines. Values are expressed as mean and pooled S. D. and p-value.
Hybrid lines 31 × 32 32 × 31 103 × 104 104 × 103 151 × 154 154 × 151 153 × 154 154 × 153
Production performance (1–5 instar) pooled SD p-value

−1 a a abc ab c c bc abc
Total feed intake (g*larva ) 25.10 25.07 24.40 24.87 23.76 23.72 24.03 24.33 0.410 0.000
Total DM intake (g*larva−1) 5.300ab 5.325ab 5.125b 5.925a 5.100b 5.225ab 5.700ab 5.750ab 0.324 0.007
Total weight gain (g*larva−1) 3.367a 3.375a 3.350ab 3.375a 3.117ab 2.980b 3.150ab 3.082ab 0.128 0.000
FCR (g feed to g gain*larva−1) 7.463ab 7.375ab 7.300b 7.360ab 7.598ab 7.967a 7.630ab 7.890ab 0.280 0.017
Cocoon weight (g) 1.575ab 1.587ab 1.572ab 1.612a 1.517ab 1.507ab 1.510ab 1.473b 0.053 0.012
Cocoon DM (g) 0.504 0.482 0.475 0.475 0.494 0.507 0.505 0.493 0.030 0.625
FCR (g feed to g cocoon weight) 15.92ab 15.75ab 15.52b 15.43b 15.62ab 15.72ab 16.19ab 16.52a 0.387 0.009
Shell to cocoon ratio 0.233 0.236 0.233 0.231 0.214 0.210 0.240 0.208 0.019 0.145
Wet manure (g*g DMI−1*larva−1) 3.877ab 3.627ab 3.741ab 3.218b 4.081a 4.187a 3.667ab 3.875ab 0.305 0.006
Digestibility of DM 40.37ab 44.13ab 39.02b 50.15a 43.63ab 43.48ab 49.47ab 45.94ab 4.488 0.019

a,b,c,
Superscripts in a same row indicate a statistic significance.

135
R. Samami, et al.
Fig. 2. Histogram of the Global Score (minimum 1.003 and maximum 8.024 points) of production performance and economic traits of the different hybrid lines of
silkworms in descending order from the best (left) to the worse (right) performing for profitability, eco-compatibility and efficiency.
silkworm farming practice in light of mass of fresh weight of cocoon
achieved from feed consumption and manure outputs. However, values
obtained across the 8 hybrid lines did not point to significant differ-
ences between shell to cocoon ratio. In contrast, cocoon weight gave
rise to significant differences among the different hybrid lines. As a
consequence, the heavier the cocoon, the heavier the shell and pupa.
While the pupa is being investigated as potential ingredient in animal
nutrition, thus favoring the recycling of this by-product, the cocoon
shell weight represents the economic trait of silkworm farming. As to
the eco-compatibility, manure production pointed to significant dif-
ferences among hybrid lines. Indeed, also approximate digestibility of
DM pointed to the output of wet manure produced per g of DM intake,
as significantly affected by the different digestive efficiency displayed
by the difference hybrid lines, with a direct impact on waste manage-
ment at farm level.
5. Conclusion
The investigation on production performance of the 8 hybrid lines of
silkworm raised in Iran pointed to significant differences in terms of
Profitability, Eco-compatibility and Efficiency. In fact, three out of the 8
lines displayed the best production traits. As economically important
traits, the differences in FCR to cocoon weights and similar shell to
cocoon ratios pointed to different rates achieved by the different hybrid
lines, fed with the same variety of mulberry tree leaves. The variety
Ichinose was administered to silkworms throughout the five instars
until pupa stage, for cocoon production. As a direct effect of digestive
efficiency, wet manure per g of DM intake gave rise to significant dif-
ferences among hybrid lines. In light of the cumulative evaluation
carried out on the basis of Profitability, Eco-compatibility and
Efficiency criteria, it is recommendable to raise hybrids 32 × 31,
153 × 154 and 104 × 103.
Declaration of Competing Interest
Authors declare no conflict of interest.
Acknowledgements
Financial support by Rasht Branch, Islamic Azad University, grant
number 17.16.4.8774 is gratefully acknowledged. The authors
136
Livestock Science 226 (2019) 133–137
acknowledge the kind advice of Mr. M. Mavvajpour, Mr. A.R.
Bizhannia, Mrs. K.H. Taieb Naeemi, Mr. Y. Kheirkhah and Mr. B. Jelveh
and their valuable comments and helpful assistance. Preparation of the
final version of the manuscript was supported by the Opole University
Grant, Poland (No. 1/KBI/14-S) and the University of Sassari, Italy.
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