Morphology and crystallinity of silkworm cocoons with different rearing seasons

The silkworm cocoon has recently attracted the attention of researchers because of its usefulness as a biomedical material (e.g., usage in the development of the membrane for guided bone regeneration and usage as a starting material for the fabrication of natural silk nonwoven fabric). The silkworm variety and strain have been reported as one of the important factors affecting the structure and properties of silk materials. This study examines the morphology and the molecular conformation of the silkworm cocoon at different cocoon measurement points, as well as the effect of the silkworm strain and rearing season on the morphology and crystallinity of the silkworm cocoon. The results show that the morphology of the outside of the cocoon does not differ depending on the cocoon measurement points, but that of the inside does. The silkworm cocoon crystallinity is not affected by the cocoon division. Interestingly, the crystallinity of the outside of the Jam101 cocoon differs depending on the rearing season, whereas it does not in other silkworm strains.