Effect of Concentration of Medium and Boiling Time in Processing of Attacus atlas Cocoon and The Effects on Filamen Quality.

Abstract

Attacus atlas was one of wild silkworm species that spreads around Indonesia. In pupa stage, A. atlas formed brown color cocoon that was the last product in silkworm sericulture. Cocoon of A. atlas has different characteristic with cocoon of the domestic silkworm Bombyx mori. It caused cocoon of A. atlas can not be proceed by the boiling process that commonly used in processing cocoon of B. mori. Therefore, special treatment and chemical compound addition are needed to process cocoon of A. atlas. The research aims to find the best chemical compound concentration and optimal boiling time to process cocoon of A. atlas and observe the treatment effect on the quality of filament. The research used two factors such as concentration of NaOH and boiling time. Concentration of NaOH that were used are 0.5 g/l (N1), 1g/l (N2), 2g/l (N3), and 3g/l (N4), while the boiling time that were used are 1 hour (T1) and 2 hours (T2). Based on ANNOVA testing, each treatment produced no significant difference (P>0.05) on the length and weight of filament also the number of filament broken. Meanwhile, based on the mean value of the length and weight of filament, N3T2 treatment showed the highest value than other treatment. The visual observation showed each treatment produced different characteristics of filament. The good quality of filament was produced by N3T1 treatment that was shown by the good color and strength of filament also the ease of cocoon processing. Key word: Attacus atlas, cocoon, fibroin, sericin