Biochemical characterization of sericin isolated from cocoons of tropical tasar silkworm Antheraea mylitta raised on three different host plants for its prospective utilization

Abstract Sericin were isolated and characterized from tasar cocoons raised in three different food plants i.e. Terminalia arjuna, T. tomentosa and Shorea robusta for its applications. Their molecular composition, structure and physical nature were determined by elemental analysis, amino acid analysis, Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) and Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) analysis. These results show that tasar food plants influence the physical and chemical properties of sericin. Further, sericin isolated from cocoons of S. robusta food plant shows better antioxidant potential and inhibition of tyrosinase, elastase and glutathione-S-transferase activity than other food plants. This may be attributed to its amino acid variations and associated phenolic content. The present study appears to be useful in utilizing tasar sericin as a potential bio-molecule for its prospective utilization in pharmaceuticals and its associated fields.