Chemical constituents of Thai silkworm (Bombyx Mori L.) strain lueang Korat excreta and its bioactivities

Abstract

At the present, silkworm cultivation in Thailand expands to the industrial level. Higher production ability yields more waste products. In particularly, silkworm excreta are the abundant waste. In this study silkworm strain Lueng Korat excreta has been investigated for its chemical constituents and bioactivities. Three valuable compounds were isolated including SWF1 (7.5 mg, 10.84x10-3% based on dried weight of excreta), SWF2 (15.9 mg, 23.06x10-3% based on dried weight of excreta) and SWF3 (3.1mg, 4.50 x10-3% based on dried weight of excreta) which were identified as tritriacontanol, lupeol and β-sitosterol, respectively. Tritriacontanol is reported for the first time in silkworm excreta and the latter two compounds were found in mulberry leaves in the previously. This investigation leads to alternative utilization of the silkworm excreta in the use of colorant that possess antioxidant activity as well as being a source for bioactive compounds. Silkworm excreta extract was evaluate for the use as cosmetic colorant and its stability under stress condition. The results indicates that extract of silkworm excreta had high free radical scavenging activity and were compatible with Cold cream USPXXI which was the cosmetic model used in the experiment.