Nutritive Effects of Calcium Carbonate (caco3) on Selected Commercial Traits of Mulberry Silkworm (Bombyx mori L.)

Md. Naymur Rahman

Department of Zoology, Faculty of Biological Sciences, University of Rajshahi, Rajshahi-6205, Bangladesh.

Tabassum Firdaus Nuziefa

Department of Zoology, Faculty of Biological Sciences, University of Rajshahi, Rajshahi-6205, Bangladesh.

Md Fazlul Haque

Department of Zoology, Faculty of Biological Sciences, University of Rajshahi, Rajshahi-6205, Bangladesh.

Moni Krishno Mohanta

Department of Zoology, Faculty of Biological Sciences, University of Rajshahi, Rajshahi-6205, Bangladesh.

Md Ariful Hasan *

Department of Zoology, Faculty of Biological Sciences, University of Rajshahi, Rajshahi-6205, Bangladesh.

*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.


Abstract

Silkworm (Bombyx mori) is the primary producer of silk. It has also been noted that minerals affect the quality of the silkworm. Calcium, a mineral with vital metabolic functions, might be involved in betterment of silkworms resulting in high quality silk production. Hence, this study was designed to evaluate the nutritive effects of Calcium carbonate (CaCO3) on silkworms and subsequent silk production. Immediately after the completion of the third instar stage of silkworm (crossbreed race - BSR-95/14(M)SL), they were divided into the control group and treated groups. Both the treatment and control groups were replicated thrice with 60 larvae each. Then, the effect of Calcium carbonate was studied at 4th and 5th instar larvae of silkworm. The treated and the control group of 4th and 5th instar larvae of silkworm was fed four times a day with Mulberry leaves either dipped into different concentrations of Calcium carbonate (0.1%, 0.2%, 0.3%, 0.4% in distilled water) or dipped into distilled water only respectively. The results showed that the supplementation of Calcium Carbonate (CaCO3) with Mulberry leaves resulted in significantly higher larval, egg, pupal, and cocoon characteristics compared to the control group. Among the different concentrations, 0.2% Calcium Carbonate supplementation showed the most valuable effect on silkworm. It can be concluded that enrichment of mulberry leaves with calcium carbonate is suitable for improvement of economic characteristics of silkworms, hence it might be suggested for usage in boosting farmers' yields.

Keywords: Bombyx mori, BSR-95/14(M)SL, Calcium Carbonate (CaCO3), Mulberry leaves, silk


How to Cite

Rahman, Md. Naymur, Tabassum Firdaus Nuziefa, Md Fazlul Haque, Moni Krishno Mohanta, and Md Ariful Hasan. 2025. “Nutritive Effects of Calcium Carbonate (caco3) on Selected Commercial Traits of Mulberry Silkworm (Bombyx Mori L.)”. Asian Journal of Research in Zoology 8 (1):17-25. https://doi.org/10.9734/ajriz/2025/v8i1178.