Pineapple extract: A potential application in cooking and reeling of oak tasar silk cocoons

Oak tasar cocoons are difficult to reel due to high amounts of protein-tannin complexes. The chemical methods developed for reeling these cocoons is not readily adopted by the common tasar silk reelers and weavers due to various reasons including relatively low reeling performance, low fuel efficiency, complicated procedure and prolonged cooking time. Proteolytic enzymes that cleaves the internal peptide bonds in an amino acid chain have the potential to effect partial solubilisation of the proteinaceous silk gum (sericin) involved in binding the silk (fibroin) strands together in silkworm cocoon, an essential step in the silk cocoon cooking and reeling. Pineapple extract rich in cysteine endopeptidases has a potential application in cooking and reeling of oak tasar (Antheraea proylei J.) silk cocoons which cannot be softened by boiling in plain water unlike the mulberry cocoons (Bombyx mori L.). The experimental results from the present investigation on the oak tasar cocoon cooking using pineapple extract at room temperature and subsequent single silk filament reeling trails have indicated for an applicability of pineapple extract as an effective agent for the oak tasar (Antheraea proylei J.) cocoon cooking and reeling and it will help to develop a simple, economic and effective oak tasar cocoon cooking and reeling enzymatic method readily accessible by common tasar silk reelers and weavers.