Abstract
Responses of fifth-instar silkworm (Bombyx mori L.) larvae to plasma irradiation were studied using atmospheric pressure dielectric barrier discharge plasma. The growth rate decreased sharply until the day after plasma irradiation and was dependent on the duration of plasma irradiation. Growth rates were similar after irradiation for 60 s and 300 s, but after 600 s, the rate was lower than that after 60 s. The total weight of silkworm larvae decreased as the number of plasma irradiations was increased from one to three. The weight of silk cocoons produced after a single plasma irradiation was 11% heavier than for non-irradiated larvae, whereas the cocoons were 6% and 13% lighter after three and five periods of plasma irradiation, respectively. We conclude that plasma irradiation to fifth-instar silkworm larvae had little effect on silk protein and silk surface morphology.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 349-359 |
| Number of pages | 11 |
| Journal | Plasma Medicine |
| Volume | 6 |
| Issue number | 3-4 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2016 |
All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes
- Biomedical Engineering
- Physics and Astronomy(all)