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Research Article
Received: 20 May 2011 Revised: 29 November 2011 Accepted: 30 November 2011 Published online in Wiley Online Library: 30 January 2012
(wileyonlinelibrary.com) DOI 10.1002/jsfa.5572
Eri silkworm: a source of edible oil with a high
content of -linolenic acid and of signicant
nutritional value
Thingnganing Longvah,

Korra Manghtya and Syed S Y HQadri

Abstract
BACKGROUND: The study was undertaken to provide value addition to spent eri silkwormas an alternative source of edible oil
for the food and feed industry by carrying out a short-term nutritional and toxicological evaluation of eri silkworm pupae oil
using Wistar NINrats.
RESULTS: Growthperformanceof rats fedeither sunower oil (Control) or eri silkwormpupaeoil (Experimental) was comparable.
Histopathological examination of the various tissues showed no signs of toxicity even after feeding the eri silkworm oil for
18 weeks. Serum cholesterol and triglyceride was signicantly reduced (P < 0.05) while high-density lipoprotein cholesterol
was signicantly increased (P < 0.05) which is attributed to the high -linolenic acid content of eri silkwormoil.
CONCLUSION: The study showed that eri silkworm pupae oil is safe and nutritionally equivalent to commonly used
vegetable oils. Eri silkworm pupae can be harvested to provide a cost effective alternative edible oil that can be used to
nutritional advantage in the food and feed industry. Therefore eri silkworm and its host plants offer an excellent example
of multiple product crops and of sustainable agricultural practice with excellent opportunity for economic and nutritional
benets.
c 2012 Society of Chemical Industry
Keywords: eri silkworm (Samia ricinii) oil; fatty acid composition; nutritional; toxicological evaluation
INTRODUCTION
Eri silkworm(Samiaricinii) is oneof theimportant non-mulberrysilk
produced primarily in north-east India. Eri silkworm is polyfagus
and grows on a wide range of plants such as castor (Ricinus
communis), tapioca (Manihot utilizsima), kissaru (Heteropanax
fragrans), payam (Evodia axinifolia), barpat (Ailanthus grandis),
papaya (Carica papaya), jatropha (Jatropha curcus) and barkesseru
(Ailenthus excels).
1
Eri silk is a staple bre, darker and heavier than
other silks. Eri silk blends well with cotton, wool, jute or mulberry
silk to create a new range of fabrics which is in great demand.
Therefore, eri culture was introducedinmany states outside north-
east India, wherever the host plants are being cultivated on large
tracts of land, in order to not only increase eri silk production
but also to improve the economic status of the marginal farmers
growing the host plant.
The population in north-east India uses a variety of insects as
food, one of which is the eri silkworm (Samia ricinii). The spent eri
silkworm pre-pupae and pupae are considered a delicacy and is
always in great demand in local markets.
2
Nutrient composition
and protein quality evaluation of eri silkworm pre-pupae and
pupae has shown that it is an excellent source of good quality
protein.
3
Some insects are also known to secrete toxic metabolites
or sequester toxic chemicals from plant foods.
47
However,
the long history of human use suggests that insects harvested
for human consumption may not pose any signicant health
problem.
In 20092010, India imported 10.1 million tons of edible oil as
against the domestic production of 8.2 million tons. The demand
for imported oil remains strong due to growing consumption
and the constraints on supply.
8
Therefore, the government of
India is exploring alternative sources of edible oil to augment the
increasing shortage in order to meet the growing demand and
save precious foreign exchange.
Silk production in India reached 19 600 metric tons in
20092010. Pupae, which accounts for 60% of the cocoon
weight, is discarded as waste material. Silkworms such as Samia
ricinii, Bombyx mori and Antheraea pernyi have been reported
to contain good amounts of fat.
3,9,10
With the introduction
of eri culture outside north-east India the production of eri
silk has increased substantially, with a concomitant increase
in the production of eri pre-pupae and pupae. Harvesting oil
from spent silkworm could help augment the acute shortage
for edible oil in the food and feed industry in the country.
Therefore the study was undertaken to provide value addition
to spent eri silkworm pre-pupae and pupae by carrying out short-
term nutritional and toxicological evaluation of the eri silkworm
pupae oil.

Correspondence to: ThingnganingLongvah, National Institute of Nutrition, Ja-

mai OsmaniaPO, Hyderabad 500007, AP, India. E-mail: tlongvah@gmail.com
National Institute of Nutrition, Jamai Osmania PO, Hyderabad 500 007, AP,
India
J Sci Food Agric 2012; 92: 19881993 www.soci.org c 2012 Society of Chemical Industry
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Eri silkworm as a source of linolenic acid www.soci.org
MATERIALS ANDMETHODS
Sample preparation
All the samples of eri silkworm pre-pupae and pupae required
for the study was supplied by the Central Silk Board, Government
of India, Ministry of Textiles, Bangalore, through its local ofce
in Hyderabad. The eri silkworm pre-pupae and pupae samples
grown on either castor or tapioca were washed separately with
deionised water and spread on lter paper sheets. Samples of
eri silkworm pre-pupae and pupae grown on either castor or
tapioca were taken separately for fatty acid analysis. The rest of
the samples were homogenised and dried overnight in a hot air
oven at 6070

C. Dried samples of eri silkworm pre-pupae and

pupae grown on either castor or tapioca were extracted with
n-hexane using a Soxhlet apparatus to separate the oil which was
pooled and used for the nutritional and toxicological evaluation
in vivo.
Fatty acid analysis
Lipids were extracted fromthe eri silkwormpre-pupae and pupae
according to the method of Bligh and Dyer
11
and methylated
as described by Loweinstein et al.
12
The fatty acid composition
of the samples was determined by gas chromatography on
a Shimadzu 2010 gas chromatograph equipped with ame
ionisation detector (Shimadzu, Kyoto, Japan). Separation was
carried out in a Phenomenex BPX-70 fused silica column (30 m
0.32 mm). The temperature of the injection and detection ports
was maintained at 230

C. The initial temperature of 140

C was
increased at the rate of 4

C min
1
and maintained at 226

C for
20 min. Individual fatty acids were identied and quantied by
comparing the retention time and peak area with authentic fatty
acid methyl ester standards.
Nutritional and toxicological evaluation of eri silkwormoil
The animal experiment was carried out after the experimental
protocol was approved by the institutional animal ethics com-
mittee. Weanling Wistar NIN rats (2123 days old) were divided
into two groups of 24 animals each (12 males and 12 females)
and fed the diet containing either 10% sunower oil (Control)
or eri silkworm oil (Experimental). The fatty acid composition of
the sunower and eri silkworm oil used in the experiment is
given in Table 1. The diets consisting of 633 g kg
1
corn starch,
200 g kg
1
casein protein, 40 g kg
1
mineral mixture, 10 g kg
1
vitamin mixture, 15 g kg
1
cellulose, 2 g kg
1
choline chloride,
10 mg kg
1
DL-methionine and either 10% sunower oil (Con-
trol) or eri silkworm pupae oil (Experimental) was fed to the
animals ad libitum for 18 weeks as described earlier.
13
Towards
the end of 18 weeks, animals were transferred to metabolic
cages and faeces were collected for 3 days. The diet and fae-
ces of the animals were analysed for nitrogen by the AOAC
14
Kjeldahl method (984.13), calcium by using a Varian Techtron
100 Atomic absorption spectrophotometer (Varian, Amsterdam,
Netherlands) after dry ashing the sample and phosphorus by the
Fiske and Subbarow method as described in AOAC
14
method
(931.01). The apparent retention of these nutrients was calcu-
lated from the dietary intake and faecal excretion. At the end of
the 6, 12 and 18 weeks, blood was drawn from the retro-orbital
sinus of the animals for the estimation of serum cholesterol,
triglycerides, alkaline phosphatase, creatinine and urea using
standard kits procured from Biosystems SA (Costa Brava 30,
Barcelona, Spain). Liver samples wereanalysedfor total cholesterol
content.
Table 1. Fatty acid prole of eri silkwormpupae oil and sunower oil
used in the diet
Fatty acid Eri silkworm pupae oil Sunower oil
16 : 0 Palmitic acid 26.98 5.6
16 : 1 Palmitoleic acid 1.82
18 : 0 Stearic acid 4.73 2.2
18 : 1 Oleic acid 15.89 25.1
18 : 2 Linoleic acid 5.49 66.2
18 : 3 -Linolenic acid 44.73
20 : 0 Arachidic acid 0.9
24 : 0 Lignoceric 0.4
Total saturates 31.71 9.1
Monounsaturates 17.71 25.1
Polyunsaturates 50.23 66.2
Results are the means of duplicate analyses and are given as the % of
the total fatty acids.
Organ weights and histopathology
The animals were sacriced and liver, spleen, kidneys, lungs, heart,
brain, testes and ovaries were carefully dissected out. Individual
organ weights of each animal in the sunower and eri silkworm
pupaeoil groups wereweighedandrecordedimmediately. Tissues
of liver, spleen, kidneys, lungs, heart, brain, pancreas, trachea,
thymus, adrenal, ovaries, testes, sternum, stomach, small intestine,
large intestine, sciatic nerves and abdominal aorta were xed,
processed, embeddedandsectionedby theconventional method.
Five-micrometre sections stained in Mayers haematoxylin&eosin
were examined under light microscopy for any changes in the
tissues due to the consumption of eri silkworm pupae oil.
Statistical analysis
The data from animal experimentation was tested for statistical
signicancebyANOVAusingtheSPSS11.0package(SPSS, Chicago,
IL, USA).
RESULTS ANDDISCUSSION
Fatty acid composition of eri silkworm
The fatty acid composition of eri silkworm pre-pupae and pupae
grownoneither castor or topiaca was comparablefor all fatty acids
except -linolenic acid which was higher in in eri silkworm grown
on castor (Table 2). Developmental stages of the insect appear to
have a bearing on the fatty acid content as stearic acid increased
from 3.91 to 5.61% as the worm transformed from the pre-pupae
stage to the pupae stage with concomitant decrease in the linoleic
acid content. Palmitic acid and -linolenic acid were the major
fatty acids comprising 6972% of the total fatty acids, which is
similar to that reported earlier for eri pupae fat by Shanker et al.
15
Total saturated fatty acids of 32% in eri silk worm pupae oil in the
present investigation was comparable to 33.2%in spent silkworm
(Bombyx mori) pupae oil reported by Rao.
9
The total unsaturated
fatty acids of eri silkworm pupae oil (6769%) and spent silk
wormpupae oil (66.8%)
9
were also comparable but vegetable oils
like perilla,
16
with substantial -linolenic acid content had higher
levels of total unsaturated fatty acids (87.3%).
The -linolenic acid content in eri silkworm pre-pupae and
pupae oil reported in the present study (4145%) was similar to
that reportedearlier for eri silkwormby Shanker et al.,
15
but higher
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Table 2. Comparison of the fatty acid composition of eri silk worm pre-pupae and pupae oil with other silkworms and vegetable oils
Pre-pupae oil Pupae oil
Fatty acid Castor Tapioca Castor Tapioca Bombyx mori
a
Perilla oil
b
16 : 0 Palmitic acid 26.45 27.52 26.75 27.18 26.2 8.9
16 : 1 Palmitoleic acid 1.90 1.83 1.76 1.79
18 : 0 Stearic acid 3.91 3.94 5.61 5.45 7.0 3.8
18;1 Oleic acid 16.57 18.32 16.19 18.46 36.9 12.9
18 : 2 Linoleic acid 5.62 6.10 4.93 5.29 4.2 17.6
18 : 3 -Linolenic acid 45.26 41.52 44.74 41.38 25.7 56.8
Total saturates 30.36 31.46 32.36 32.63 33.2 12.7
Total unsaturates 69.35 67.77 67.62 66.89 66.8 87.3
Monounsaturates 18.47 20.15 17.95 20.22 36.9 12.9
Polyunsaturates 50.88 47.62 49.67 46.67 29.9 74.4
Values are means of duplicate analyses and are expressed as a percentage of the total fatty acids.
a
From Rao.
9
b
From Longvah and Deosthale.
16
than25.5%reportedfor spent silk wormpupae oil
9
or 1733.4%in
Bombyx mori L.
17
In the present study both the eri pre-pupae and
pupae on castor leaves showed higher -linolenic acid content
compared to tapioca leaves which is contrary to the ndings
of Shanker et al.
15
The higher -linolenic acid content in the eri
pupae on tapioca has been attributed by Shanker et al.
15
to the
higher content of -linolenic acid in tapioca (45%) compared to
castor (40%). However, on a dry weight basis crude fat content has
been reported to be 38 g kg
1
in cassava leaves
18
and 148 g kg
1
in castor leaves
19
which can offset the small differences in their
-linolenic acid content. Further, the high palimitic acid and low
oleic acidcontent in both castor and tapioca leaves is not reected
in the eri pupae.
Studies havealsoshownthat the-linolenicaciddecreasedfrom
8.7%in the diet to 3.3%in the larvae of Trichoplusiani even though
it is known that -linolenic is required for wing development.
20
Biotin
21
and choline
22
has also been shown to inuence fatty acid
synthesis/accumulation. Further the fatty acid prole including
-linolenic acid of Bombyx mori L. has been shown to vary greatly
during the developmental stages of the larvae.
23
Therefore there
may be other factors involved in the synthesis/accumulation of
-linolenic acid in the silkwormwhich cannot be just explained by
the -linolenic acid content in the diet of silkworms as this acid is
foundinthe lipidof insects andinsect larvae withdifferent feeding
habits. In the insect order Lepidoptera, to which the silkworms
belong, -linolenic acid content has been reported to be as low
as 0.6% in Heliothis virescens to as high as 51% in Hyalophora
ceropia.
24
However, among the silkworm species it appears that
eri silkworm has the highest content of -linolenic acid. In the
light of the importance of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid in health
and disease the highcontent of -linolenic acidin silkwormpupae
assumes signicance.
Growth performance of rats fed 10%sunower oil or eri
silkwormoil for 18 weeks
Table 3 shows the food intake, gain in body weights and dry
matter digestibility of the animals fed either sunower (Control)
or eri silkworm pupae oil (Experimental) oil diets. No statistical
signicance could be observed for dry matter digestibility or gain
in body weights between the sunower or eri silkworm pupae oil
groups which shows that eri silkworm pupae oil supports growth
andweight gainsimilar toedibleoils likesunower oil. Eri silkworm
pupae oil in the diet did not affect the retention of nitrogen (58%),
phosphorus (72%) andcalcium(70%) adversely andthe retentions
were comparable to those of sunower oil fed animals.
Organ weights
Table 4 shows the organ weights of animals which were fed either
the eri silkworm pupae oil or sunower oil diet for 18 weeks.
No apparent differences were observed in the organ weights of
these animals thus indicating no gross abnormality due to the
consumption of eri silkworm pupae oil.
Histopathological studies
Histopathologyof theorgans revealednosigns of toxicity(Table 5).
The lesions of periportal inammatory cell in ltrates and focal
areas of necrosis in the livers have been observed in one animal
Table 3. Growth performance of rats fed 10% sunower oil or eri silkworm oil for 18 weeks
Sunower oil Eri silkworm pupae oil
Parameter Males Females Males Females
Food intake (g) 1652 68.74 1280 68.61 1559 76.17 1282 89.12
Gain in body weights (g) 353 24.19 195 17.50 299 27.16 179 22.36
Dry matter digestibility (%) 95.6 0.87 95.9 1.00 95.0 0.94 95.3 1.00
Values are mean SD (n = 12 males and 12 females in each group).
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Table 4. Organ weights (g) of control and experimental animals at
the end of 18 weeks
Sunower oil Eri silkworm pupae oil
Organ Males Females Males Females
Liver 12.07 1.438 7.30 0.168 11.83 1.258 7.69 0.437
Spleen 0.89 0.264 0.53 0.105 0.72 0.103 0.57 0.166
Kidney 2.94 0.336 1.86 0.231 2.97 0.427 1.93 0.257
Lungs 1.89 0.284 1.66 0.885 1.58 0.186 1.27 0.186
Heart 1.15 0.151 0.75 0.067 1.02 0.129 0.76 0.116
Brain 1.50 0.191 1.42 0.164 1.36 0.215 1.36 0.156
Testis 5.62 0.918 5.13 0.619
Ovaries 3.60 1.322 2.94 0.840
Values are mean SD (n = 12 males and 12 females in each group).
each of both the sunower and perilla oil fed groups respectively.
Therefore, theabovelesions inthelivers areincidental andnot due
to the test material. The lung lesions of peribronchial lymphoid
aggregates present may be due to latent infection. These lesions
are normally present as background pathology in the lungs of
many strains of rats and hence not attributed to the treatment
effect. Thelymphoidcell collections inthesubmucosaareroutinely
found in the rodent species and not attributed to the treatment
effect. All other organs werenormal anddidnot showanychanges.
Therefore, it can be concluded that no signs of toxicity were
observed when the animals were fed with the eri-silkwormpupae
oil even at 10% level in the feed.
Biochemical parameters
Table 6 shows the biochemical parameters measured at three
time points (6, 12 and 18 weeks) of the study period in the
plasma of the sunower oil and eri silkworm oil fed animals.
The creatinine levels showed a gradual increase with increase
in body weights of the animals. However, the creatinine levels
were comparable between the control and experimental groups.
The serum creatinine, alkaline phosphatase and urea levels of the
eri silkworm pupae oil and sunower oil fed animals were also
comparable indicating no functional change due to the feeding of
eri silkworm pupae oil.
Serum triglyceride levels lowered signicantly (P < 0.05) in
both the male and female groups fed eri silkworm pupae oil at
18 weeks as compared to the animals fed sunower oil. This effect
can be attributed to the high -linolenic acid content in the diet
which is absent in sunower oil diet. There are many reports to
show that -linolenic acid in the diet of animals can signicantly
reduce serum triglyceride levels.
25
High levels of triglycerides
in the blood stream have been linked to atherosclerosis and
Table 5. Histopathology ndings in various organs of rats fed 10% sunower oil (Control) or eri silkworm oil (Experimental) after 18 weeks
(sex-pooled data)
S. no. Organ Code Diagnosis Sunower oil
a
Silkworm pupae oil
a
1 Liver 1 Normal 95.8 (23) 95.8 (23)
3 Periportal inammatory cell inltrates 4.16 (1) 0
5 Focal areas of necrosis 0 4.16 (1)
2 Spleen 1 Normal 95.8 (23) 95.8 (23)
99 Not available 4.16 (1) 4.16 (1)
3 Kidney 1 Normal 100 (24) 100 (24)
4 Lungs 1 Normal 45.83 (11) 66.66 (16)
2 Peribronchial lymphoid aggregates 54.17 (13) 33.33 (8)
5 Heart 1 Normal 100 (24) 100 (24)
6 Brain 1 Normal 100 (24) 100 (24)
7 Pancreas 1 Normal 100 (24) 100 (24)
8 Trachea 1 Normal 95.8 (23) 100 (24)
2 Tracheitis 4.16 (1) 0
9 Thymus 1 Normal 91.66 (22) 87.5 (21)
99 Not available 8.33 (2) 12.5 (3)
10 Adrenals 1 Normal 100 (24) 100 (24)
11 Ovaries 1 Normal 100 (12) 100 (12)
12 Testes 1 Normal 100 (12) 100 (12)
13 Sternum 1 Normal 100 (24) 100 (24)
14 Stomach 1 Normal 95.8 (23) 95.8 (23)
2 Lymphoid cell collections in submucosa 4.16 (1) 4.16 (1)
15 S. intestines 1 Normal 87.5 (21) 87.5 (21)
2 Lymphoid cell collections in submucosa 12.5 (3) 12.5 (3)
16 L. intestines 1 Normal 66.66 (16) 41.66 (10)
2 Lymphoid cell collections in submucosa 4.16 (1) 4.16 (1)
99 Not available 29.16 (7) 54.16 (13)
17 Sciatic nerve 1 Normal 100 (24) 100 (24)
18 Abdominal aorta 1 Normal 100 (24) 100 (24)
Number of animals: 12 male and 12 female in each group.
a
Results are given as the % of animals, with the number of animals in parentheses.
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Table 6. Serum biochemical parameters in rats fed 10% sunower oil (Control) or eri silkworm oil (Experimental)
Sunower oil Eri silkworm pupae oil
Parameter Period (weeks) Males Females Males Females
Creatinine (mg dL
1
) 6 0.82 0.161 0.79 0.158 0.73 0.178 0.73 0.196
12 0.98 0.176 0.96 0.126 0.91 0.203 0.99 0.128
18 1.03 0.176 1.02 0.181 0.96 0.181 1.11 0.170
Urea (mg dL
1
) 6 30.7 6.25 31.5 3.82 27.6 4.56 29.7 5.43
12 30.1 2.92 38.7 3.53 31.9 5.22 38.1 5.85
18 28.1 4.14 30.6 7.06 26.0 4.04 25.2 4.64
Alkaline phosphatase (U L
1
) 6 78.7 10.45 63.2 12.59 86.9 10.80 71.6 19.61
12 82.0 13.34 63.7 16.38 81.6 6.73 77.4 10.64
18 91.1 17.95 81.3 11.72 91.4 14.99 87.7 6.04
Triglyceride (mg dL
1
) 6 78.5 14.62 65.7 4.59 78.6 14.06 71.3 7.70
12 80.8 11.20 66.7 6.15 63.3 6.92 55.8 7.48
18 86.2 10.34
a
69.6 5.33
a
63.2 4.37
b
53.7 6.42
b
Total cholesterol (mg dL
1
) 6 127 11.15 103 19.22 114 19.52 104 15.75
12 136 13.63
a
105 16.04 109 6.45
b
103 3.80
18 169 12.78
a
128 15.13
a
107 7.38
b
99 3.60
b
HDL cholesterol (mg dL
1
) 6 18.1 3.91 15.6 2.35 16.9 2.93 15.7 2.35
12 12.6 6.07
a
12.1 7.55
a
17.1 1.99
b
17.7 1.50
b
18 10.3 2.09
a
11.0 2.07
a
22.7 3.01
b
20.2 3.10
b
Values are mean SD (n = 12 males and 12 females in each group).
a,b
Different superscripts are signicant at P < 0.05.
increased risk of heart disease and stroke. Therefore, the reduced
serum triglyceride levels in eri silkworm pupae oil fed rats is
of signicance even though it was achieved after prolonged
feeding.
Serum cholesterol level in both the male and female animals
fed eri silkworm pupae oil was signicantly (P < 0.05) lower at
18 weeks as compared to the males and females fed sunower oil.
The liver cholesterol levels were comparable between the control
fed sunower oil (230 7.8 mg 100 g
1
) and the experimental
animals fed the eri silkworm pupae oil (215 8.2 mg 100 g
1
).
This shows that the decrease in serum cholesterol level does not
leadtohepatic cholesterol accumulation. The high-linolenic acid
of eril silkwormpupaeoil might inhibit cholesterol synthesis or may
stimulate cholesterol catabolismtobile acids andtoneutral sterols
excreted in faeces or may stimulate the excretion of cholesterol
and its metabolites as dermal lipids.
26
Similar lowering of serum
cholesterol level due to feeding of oil rich in -linolenic acid has
also been observed by feeding perilla oil
13
or -linolenic acid rich
diet.
27
High-density lipoprotein cholesterol increased signicantly
(P < 0.05) even at 12 weeks in the eri silkworm oil pupae group
which became pronounced at 18 weeks in both the male and
female animals as compared to the sunower oil fed group. The
benecial effect of increased high-density lipoprotein cholesterol
may be due to the high -linolenic acid content in the diet which
may reduce the risk of death from heart disease.
28
The use of eri silkwormpupae oil for direct human consumption
may not be appealing due to consumer preferences especially
when it is made known that the source of oil is from an insect.
However, this can be overcome if the benecial effects of the
eri silkworm pupae oil are transferred through a secondary
source. Studies have shown that -linolenic acid increased
from 1.0 to 13.9% in milk fatty acids of cows fed linseed oil
infusion.
29
Other studies have shown efcient incorporation of
docosaheaxenoic acid into the egg yolk when layers were fed 7%
-linolenicacid.
30
Milk and eggs enriched with omega-3 fatty
acids will have a higher market value and enhanced health
benets.
Consumption of eggs enriched with omega-3 fatty acids offers
an alternative food option for more than doubling current sub-
optimal docosahexaenoic acid intakes which can be related
to a reduced risk for fatal ischaemic heart disease.
31
Cherian
and Sim
32
have demonstrated increased docosapentaenoic and
eicosapentaenoic acid in breast milk when eggs enriched with
omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids were consumed by nursing
mothers. Thesefatty acids areprecursors of prostaglandins andare
of nutritional signicance to infants. In a double-blind cross-over
study Bovet et al.
33
have demonstrated a signicant (P < 0.01)
decrease in serum triglyceride levels in healthy volunteers fed
eggs enriched with omega-3 fatty acids. All these studies are a
clear indication of the many ways available for the efcient use
of eri silkworm pupae oil for nutritional, health and commercial
gains.
CONCLUSION
Eri silkworm pupae oil is particularly rich in -linolenic acid.
Nutritional and toxicological studies on the eri silkworm oil
showed that it is safe and nutritionally equivalent to commonly
used vegetable oils, such as sunower oil, but with added health
benets due to the high -linolenic acid content. Therefore, eri
pupaerepresents a potential sourceof oil that canbeharvestedfor
use in the food and feed industry to not only augment the severe
shortage of edible oils in India but also provide additional income
to the marginal farmers growing silkworms. Evidently, there is
huge potential for harvesting not only eri silkworm pupae oil but
also other spent silkworms for nutritional, health and economic
benets.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The investigators are grateful to Dr J.V. Krishna Rao, the then
Jt Director, CSB, Bangalore, whose vision was to harvest the
eri silkworm pupae for human food use and who brought this
important area of research to our notice. The investigators are also
grateful to the Central Silk Board for providing the grant to carry
out the study at the National Institute of Nutrition, Hyderabad.
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