Mechanisation applied to entomological production cannot ignore insect reactivity: a case study on in the context of the 'Serinnovation' project.

In December 2017 the Venetian Region (local Authority), financed the creation of the Operational Group (OG) 'Serinnovation', within the framework of the Rural Development Plan supported by the European Community. The OG aims at coordinating and spreading innovation in sericulture through mechanisation of processes and centralisation of some rearing steps, the use of waste as by-products and traceability to promote local productions. The project acts on perceived quality by increasing the added value, through production cost efficiency, and on the recovery of the waste material for further applications (circular economy).

In Vivo Efficacy of a Nanoconjugated Glycopeptide Antibiotic in Silkworm Larvae Infected by .

To contrast the rapid spread of antibiotic resistance in bacteria, new alternative therapeutic options are urgently needed. The use of nanoparticles as carriers for clinically relevant antibiotics represents a promising solution to potentiate their efficacy. In this study, we used larvae for the first time as an animal model for testing a nanoconjugated glycopeptide antibiotic (teicoplanin) against infection.

Determining the hierarchical order by which intestinal tract, administered diet, and individual relay can shape the gut microbiome of fattening quails.

A bacterial metabarcoding approach was used to compare the microbiome composition of caecal and faecal samples from fattening Japanese quails (Coturnix coturnix japonica) fed three different diet regimes. The tested feedstuffs included (1) a commercial diet for fattening quails, (2) a commercial diet containing 12% full-fat silkworm (Bombyx mori) pupae meal, and (3) a commercial diet containing 12% defatted silkworm pupae meal. The aim of the experiment was to verify the relative effect of three variables (diet type, gut tract comparing caecum to rectum, and individual animal) in determining the level of bacterial community dissimilarity to rank the relevance of each of the three factors in affecting and shaping community composition.

Alginate-Based Carriers Loaded with Mulberry ( L.) Leaf Extract: A Promising Strategy for Prolonging 1-Deoxynojirimicyn (DNJ) Systemic Activity for the Nutraceutical Management of Hyperglycemic Conditions.

The iminosugar 1-deoxynojirimicyn (DNJ) contained in mulberry leaves has displayed systemic beneficial effects against disorders of carbohydrate metabolism. Nevertheless, its effect is impaired by the short half-life. Alginate-based carriers were developed to encapsulate a DNJ-rich mulberry extract: Ca-alginate beads, obtained by external gelation, and spray-dried alginate microparticles (SDMs).

The Darker the Better: Identification of Chemotype Profile in Soroses of Local and Introduced Mulberry Varieties with Respect to the Colour Type.

Mulberries are the "essence of the past", the so-called Proust effect, for the inhabitants of the sericultural regions who enthusiastically remember feeding silkworms with mulberry leaves and picking the different coloured fruits that were their favourite sweets in childhood. To determine the chemistry behind the colour and taste of mulberry soroses, the main metabolites of the local and introduced varieties were studied. The soroses were classified into five different colour types and the size parameters were determined.

Phytochemical and functional characterization of cultivated varieties of Morus alba L. fruits grown in Italy.

Morus alba L. fruits are considered functional foods with an important nutritional value for their high content of polyphenols. Therefore, the type and level of phytochemicals of the soroses from 13 M.

Potential of Full-Fat Silkworm-Based Diets for Laying Quails: Performance and Egg Physical Quality.

The present research was conducted to determine the optimal inclusion level of full-fat silkworm chrysalis meal (SWM) into laying quails' diets, focusing on performance traits and egg physical quality. A total of 240 31-day-old female Japanese quails were randomly assigned to four dietary groups (12 replicates/treatment; 5 quails/replicate); quails were initially fed a standard commercial diet for pullets until 63 days of age. When oviposition started, the experimental groups received the following diets: a conventional corn and soybean-based diet (control diet-C) and three other diets, including 4%, 8%, or 12% of full-fat SWM (SWM4, SWM8, SWM12, respectively).

Automated Prototype for Cocoon Sorting Attempts to Improve Silk Quality and Production Efficiency through Multi-Step Approach and Machine Learning Algorithms.

Cocoon sorting is one of the most labor-demanding activities required both at the end of the agricultural production and before the industrial reeling process to obtain an excellent silk quality. In view of the possible relaunch of European sericulture, the automatization of this production step is mandatory both to reduce silk costs and to standardize fiber quality. The described research starts from this criticality in silk production (the manual labor required to divide cocoons into different quality classes) to identify amelioration solutions.

Silkworm pupae derivatives as source of high value protein intended for pasta fortification.

Silkworm (Bombyx mori) pupae are recognized as novel nutritionally valuable food. Their use in pasta-making was considered with the intention of repositioning spaghetti shaped pasta supplemented with silkworm derivatives (10% ) as a valuable product in sustainable diets besides upcycling a side stream from the silk industry. The principal objective of this study was to assess the cooking quality (i.

Silkworm and Silk: Traditional and Innovative Applications.

The various subjects covered in the present Special Issue "Silkworm and Silk: Traditional and Innovative Applications" demonstrate how sericulture, a practice deeply rooted in human history, can act as a bridge to bring together an exceptionally wide range of scientific and technical expertise in both conventional topics and cutting-edge technologies [...

Bombyx mori from a food safety perspective: A systematic review.

Bombyx mori (BM) is an economically important insect for silk production, and it is also farmed and used as food in different countries around the world. The present systematic review aims to assess the suitability of BM as an edible insect, retrieving data from scientific papers reporting microbiological, chemical, and allergenic hazards of silkworm consumed as either whole insects or insect derivatives. We considered all studies published in peer-reviewed journals in English, French, and Spanish languages.

A Infection Model for Screening Antibiotics against .

The increasing number of microorganisms that are resistant to antibiotics is prompting the development of new antimicrobial compounds and strategies to fight bacterial infections. The use of insects to screen and test new drugs is increasingly considered a promising tool to accelerate the discovery phase and limit the use of mammalians. In this study, we used for the first time the silkworm, , as an in vivo infection model to test the efficacy of three glycopeptide antibiotics (GPAs), against the nosocomial pathogen .

Nutritional Composition of Pupae: A Systematic Review.

As insects have started to enter the eating habits of Western countries, an increasing amount of literature regarding the mulberry silkworm () prospective application as food has been published. Despite this growing interest, there is currently no systematic review of silkworm nutritional composition available. In this paper, we performed a systematic review of the recent available literature on the nutrient composition of mulberry silkworm pupae.

Bibliometric Analysis of Trends in Mulberry and Silkworm Research on the Production of Silk and Its By-Products.

Traditionally, sericulture is meant as the agricultural activity of silk production, from mulberry ( sp.pl.) cultivation to silkworm ( L.

Black, Caspian Seas and Central Asia Silk Association (BACSA) for the Future of Sericulture in Europe and Central Asia.

The history and recent activities of the Black Caspian Seas and Central Asia Silk Association are presented in this paper: the countries that participated in its foundation, the FAO's action to revitalize sericulture in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, the following widening of the Association geographical limits of to enclose other European countries, which were not well-represented in other similar organizations. Some statistical data are illustrated for a better description of the scenario in which the BACSA executive board acted: the world silk production quantity and the relative production of BACSA countries in respect to the Chinese expansion. The themes treated in the BACSA conferences are reported to explain which matters the Executive Board considered the most relevant for the relaunch of this activity in relationships to the international challenges in the subsequent years; the project proposals that were presented to international donors are summarized.

The Circadian Clock in Lepidoptera.

With approximately 160,000 identified species of butterflies and moths, Lepidoptera are among the most species-rich and diverse insect orders. Lepidopteran insects have fundamental ecosystem functions as pollinators and valuable food sources for countless animals. Furthermore, Lepidoptera have a significant impact on the economy and global food security because many species in their larval stage are harmful pests of staple food crops.

Determination of 1-Deoxynojirimycin (1-DNJ) in Leaves of Italian or Italy-Adapted Cultivars of Mulberry ( sp.pl.) by HPLC-MS.

Recently, 1-DNJ has been widely studied by scientists for its capacity to inhibit α-glucosidase and reduce postprandial blood glucose and fat accumulation. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first analytical determination of 1-DNJ in sp.pl.

Mechanical Processing of Larvae and Pupae Produces Oils with Antimicrobial Activity.

The aim of this work was to develop processing methods that safeguard the quality and antimicrobial properties of and oils. We adopted a vegetable diet for both insects: leftover vegetables and fruit for and mulberry leaves for . First, alternative techniques to obtain a good oil extraction yield from the dried biomass of larvae were tested.

An Efficient Workflow for Screening and Stabilizing CRISPR/Cas9-Mediated Mutant Lines in .

The domestic silkworm is extensively studied as a model organism for lepidopteran genetics and has an economic value in silk production. Silkworms also have applications in biomedical and cosmetic industries, and the production of mutant strains significantly enhances basic and applied silkworm research. In recent years, CRISPR/Cas9 technology is being rapidly adopted as the most efficient molecular tool for generating silkworm lines carrying mutations in target genes.

A Silkworm Infection Model for In Vivo Study of Glycopeptide Antibiotics.

Glycopeptide antibiotics (GPAs) are drugs of last resort for treating infections by Gram-positive bacteria. They inhibit bacterial cell wall assembly by binding to the d-Ala-d-Ala terminus of peptidoglycan precursors, leading to cell lysis Vancomycin and teicoplanin are first generation GPAs, while dalbavancin is one of the few, recently approved, second generation GPAs. In this paper, we developed an in vivo insect model to compare, for the first time, the efficacy of these three GPAs in curing infection.

Investigation of the protein profile of silkworm () pupae reared on a well-calibrated artificial diet compared to mulberry leaf diet.

Background: Silkworm pupae is the main by-product of the sericulture industry with an interesting nutritional profile, especially in terms of proteins. In consideration of its possible use as a food or food ingredient in Western countries, a comparative proteomic experiment has been performed to investigate the differences of the protein profile of male and female silkworm pupae reared on mulberry leaves or on an artificial diet.

Methods: The nutritional profile of lyophilized silkworm pupae in terms of dry matter and ash was evaluated according to the AOAC procedures, the total nitrogen content was determined by a nitrogen analyzer and the silkworm pupae gross energy value was measured using an adiabatic calorimetric bomb.

A First Attempt to Produce Proteins from Insects by Means of a Circular Economy.

The worldwide growing consumption of proteins to feed humans and animals has drawn a considerable amount of attention to insect rearing. Insects reared on organic wastes and used as feed for monogastric animals can reduce the environmental impact and increase the sustainability of meat/fish production. In this study, we designed an environmentally closed loop for food supply in which fruit and vegetable waste from markets became rearing substrate for (BSF- black soldier fly).

Structural and Functional Characterization of Larval Midgut.

The larvae of are among the most promising agents for the bioconversion of low-quality biomass, such as organic waste, into sustainable and nutritionally valuable proteins for the production of animal feed. Despite the great interest in this insect, the current literature provides information limited to the optimization of rearing methods for larvae, with particular focus on their efficiency in transforming different types of waste and their nutritional composition in terms of suitability for feed production. Surprisingly, biology has been neglected and a deep understanding of the morphofunctional properties of the larval midgut, the key organ that determines the extraordinary dietary plasticity of this insect, has been completely overlooked.

The Effect of Strain and Rearing Medium on the Chemical Composition, Fatty Acid Profile and Carotenoid Content in Silkworm () Pupae.

The overexploitation of fishmeal and soy for the feedstuff industry has provided an opportunity to employ insects as an unconventional and more environmental friendly protein source. The evaluation of the nutritive properties of different insect species has consequently become a priority. The present study compares the pupal nutritive composition of two silkworm strains (White Cocoon Polyhybrid and Golden Yellow Cocoon Nistari) fed on two different rearing media (fresh mulberry leaves and a commercial artificial diet).