Department of Applied Entomology and Zoology, Faculty of Agriculture, Alexandria University, Alexandria, Egypt.
Egyptian Plant Quarantine, Alexandria, Egypt.
Sci Rep. 2024 Aug 23;14(1):19600. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-67128-0.
The phytochemicals of high nutritional and functional properties in Lepidium sativum L. (garden cress) seeds have nominated their seed powder (regardless of the concentration used) for enrichment of mulberry leaves in order to enhance Bombyx mori L. larval feeding, and consequently to gain ground in sericulture industry. As expected, B. mori larval feeding on L. sativum-enriched mulberry leaves showed not only a remarkable increase in mean values of certain economic parameters of B. mori, such as cocoon weight, cocoon shell weight, pupal weight, and egg yield, compared with the control group, but also showed a phenomenal increase in egg counts (on average, ca. 958-1256 eggs laid per female moth) and a significant increase in egg size (measured as egg surface area and egg volume). Male or female moth larval diet has significantly influenced the reproductive performance or fitness of both sexes of B. mori in terms of large-sized moths (measured as forewing, hind femur, and hind tibia lengths) and highly fecund moths (i.e., increased fecundity and spermatophore counts per female moth, and large-sized eggs). On the basis of B. mori female moth reproductive index, the female moths from L. sativum-fed larvae proved to have a lower reproductive index compared to their corresponding value for females of the control group, indicating more efficient utilization of larval resources for B. mori reproduction. Quantification of the three main physiological resources viz., protein, lipid and carbohydrate in the internal reproductive tract of B. mori female moths at death has nominated the female moth abdomens, or simply their bodies, as being a reasonable natural source of protein, lipid, and carbohydrate, to be involved in certain manufactures (e.g., pet feed formulations) instead of discarding them as a source of environmental pollution. Evidently, the L. sativum seed powder is of considerable interest because it remarkably improves the performance of such an economically important insect, B. mori. This is the first study for evaluating the efficacy of L. sativum seed powder in sericulture field to enhance B. mori productivity parameters.
荠菜籽粉因其高营养价值和功能性成分而备受关注，其被用于丰富桑叶，以提高家蚕幼虫的摄食量，从而推动养蚕业的发展。正如预期的那样，家蚕幼虫食用荠菜籽粉丰富的桑叶后，不仅某些经济参数（如茧重、茧壳重、蛹重和产卵量）显著增加，而且产卵量也显著增加（平均每只雌蛾产卵约 958-1256 枚），卵的大小（以卵表面积和卵体积衡量）也显著增加。雄蛾或雌蛾幼虫的饮食显著影响了家蚕雌雄两性的繁殖性能或适应性，表现为大型蛾（以前翅、后股和后胫骨长度衡量）和高繁殖力蛾（即雌蛾产卵量、精子量和大卵数量增加）的比例增加。根据家蚕雌蛾的繁殖指数，与对照组雌蛾的相应值相比，荠菜籽喂养的幼虫所产生的雌蛾繁殖指数较低，表明家蚕繁殖过程中幼虫资源的利用效率更高。对家蚕雌蛾死亡时内部生殖道的三种主要生理资源（蛋白质、脂肪和碳水化合物）进行定量分析，提名雌蛾腹部，或简单地提名雌蛾身体，作为蛋白质、脂肪和碳水化合物的合理天然来源，用于某些产品的制造（例如宠物饲料配方），而不是将其作为环境污染的来源丢弃。显然，荠菜籽粉具有相当大的吸引力，因为它显著提高了家蚕这种经济重要昆虫的性能。这是首次在养蚕领域评估荠菜籽粉对提高家蚕生产性能参数的效果的研究。
