Silkworm, Bombyx mori being a monophagous insect feeds chiefly on mulberry leaves. The presence of chemo-factors viz., morin and β-sitosterol in mulberry leaves act as stimulating and attracting factors for feeding silkworms. With the advancement in research, more emphasis is laid on the development of artificial diet to continue silkworm rearing when mulberry leaves are insufficient or unavailable. However the development of proper artificial diet for silkworm is a high-tech procedure and requires complete knowledge of all the essential nutrients for preparation of diet. Artificial diet requires mulberry leaf powder, proteins, fatty acids, lipids, sterols, cellulose, minerals etc in a recommended amount. These nutrients play an essential role in the growth and development of silkworm larvae. The artificial diet is supplied once with gap of three to four days to young instar larvae of silkworm. The artificial diet is influenced by many factors viz., physical factors, microbial agents and palatability of mulberry leaf. The preparation and feeding of artificial diet in a strategical manner can lower the dependence of sericulture on fresh mulberry leaves with significant decline in labour and production costs. This review aimed to summarize the composition and other important ingredients influencing the properties of artificial diet of silkworm Bombyx mori

anti-microbial, β-sitosterol, proteins, silkworm, artificial diet

Nutrition plays an essential role in growth and development of silkworm. Since nature provides all the nutrients and additional governing factors for enhancing quality of mulberry leaf as a potential feed for silkworm, B. mori. More emphasis should be laid on development of artificial diet homogenous to mulberry leaves for silkworm, B. mori. The artificial diet should contain mulberry dry leaf powder, carbohydrates, protein, amino acids, fatty acids, minerals, vitamins in required amounts in addition to attracting and biting factors to support the luxuriant growth of silkworm. The physical factors, antimicrobial agents, pH and mulberry leaf palatability which greatly influences the properties of artificial diet should be taken in proper consideration while formulation of diet. Although, many researchers are still working on the efficacy of artificial diet at commercial level in sericulture. However, artificial diet is quite implementable while working on the research models of silkworm to explore specific mechanisms

Jasmeena Qadir and Tajamul Islam (2024). Role of Different Components in Artificial Diet of Silkworm, Bombyx mori L. International Journal on Emerging Technologies, 15(2): 62–67