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Author: Deori, Manas Jyoti × Type: Thesis × Thesis Type: M.Sc ×
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    EFFECT OF FOLIAR SUPPLEMENTATION OF ASCORBIC ACID ON LARVAL GROWTH AND ECONOMIC TRAITS OF MUGA SILKWORM (Antheraea assamensis Helfer.)
    (AAU, Jorhat, 2017-07) Deori, Manas Jyoti; Dutta, L. C.
    Muga silk is the product of the silkworm Antheraea assamensis Helfer. endemic to North Eastern India which is prevalent in the Brahmaputra valley and adjoining hills by virtue of its typical agro-climatic condition. Muga silkworm is polyphagous and feeds on the leaves of different plant species. The silkworm is semi-domesticated and multivoltine in nature having 5 to 6 generation in a year. Supplementation or fortification of silkworm host plant leaves is a technique of recent application in sericulture research. A variety of fortification agents such as, proteins, carbohydrates, amino acids, sugars, vitamins, minerals, sterols, hormones, antibiotics, salts and other chemicals have been tested on silkworm larvae (Sundar Raj et al., 2000). The dietary supplements like proteins, vitamins, lipids etc. evincing their specificity at specific dose for various metabolic activities of silkworm (Horie and Watanabe, 1980). Ascorbic acid has many important functions in the animal body (Balasundaram et al., 2013 ). The present investigation is aimed to study the effect of foliar supplementation of ascorbic acid on larval growth and economic parameters of muga silkworm, Antheraea assamensis Helfer. in the Department of Sericulture, Assam Agricultural University, Jorhat during the year 2016-17. The study revealed that supplementation of som leaves with ascorbic acid does not have much impact on the larval growth and cocoon characters of muga silkworm. Application of ascorbic acid in 4th instar larval period with 1.5 % to 3.0% concentration of ascorbic acid increases the larval weight with decrease of larval duration compared to control, while effective rate of rearing was found to be more in 3.0-4.5% concentration of ascorbic acid supplementation during 3rd, 4th and 5th instar larval period. The silk gland weight was 1.8g in control batch and at variation from 1.75g to 2.10g in the treated batches of the silkworm with different concentration of ascorbic acid. The cocoon weight, shell weight, shell ratio, length and size (denier) of cocoon filament found to be increases with application of ascorbic acid with 1.5% concentration at 4th instar larval growth period. Thus, from the present investigation it could be inferred that fortification of host leaves with ascorbic acid does not have much impact on larval growth and economic characters of muga silkworm. However, supplementation of host leaves with lower concentrations of ascorbic acid during 3rd and 4th instar rearing period may be effective at certain levels, for improvement of larval growth and economic traits of muga silkworm.