Indian Silk

Post Cocoon

Silk Testing

Guide to Testing, Sorting, and Quality Control of Mulberry Cocoons

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This folder provides information about the silkworm seed sector, covering seed production, multiplication, distribution, and quality assurance for mulberry, vanya, eri, tasar, and muga silkworms.

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/indian-silk/post-cocoon/silk-testing/guide-to-testing-sorting-and-quality-control-of-mulberry-cocoons

This guide outlines the essential procedures for identifying, sorting, and calculating the defect percentage of mulberry cocoons to ensure high-quality raw silk production. 

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/indian-silk/post-cocoon/reeling-mulberry

This folder provides information on reeling of mulberry silk, the process of extracting continuous silk filaments from cocoons. It covers traditional and improved reeling technologies including charkha, cottage basin, multi-end, and automatic reeling machines, along with re-reeling, yarn quality parameters, and best practices for producing high-grade mulberry raw silk.

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Oak Tasar Sericulture is a type of wild or forest based sericulture focused on producing a finer variety of Tasar silk using the temperate oak-feeding silkworm, called Antheraea proylei. The silkworm feed on leaves of various oak species (Quercus spp.), such as Q. serrata, Q. incana, etc. These are abundant in temperate/sub-Himalayan regions. Oak tasar culture is mainly practiced inNE & NW states of India. It provides livelihood opportunities, especially for tribal and rural for tribal and rural communities in hilly/forested areas, contributing to sustainable forest-based income generation.

Testing and sorting mulberry cocoons for defects is essential to ensure high raw silk quality and smooth reeling performance. Inspection evaluates batches by identifying, separating, and quantifying damaged or malformed structures using manual, optical, or instrumental methods managed via the Central Silk Board guidelines.
<h3>Common Types of Defective Cocoons</h3>
<ul>
<li>Double cocoons: Joined together by two or more silkworms; unreelable for standard silk but used for dupion silk.</li>
<li>Flimsy / Thin-shelled cocoons: Weak, low-density shell walls that break easily during reeling.</li>
<li>Melted / Stained cocoons: Damaged by dead or diseased pupae inside, leaking fluids and staining the shell.</li>
<li>Uzi-infected cocoons: Pierced or damaged by parasitic uzi fly maggots.</li>
<li>Urinated cocoons: Wet or stained by larval excreta, weakening the local sericin structure.</li>
<li>Malformed / Pointed cocoons: Twisted, deformed, or improperly shaped structures from poor mounting.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Testing and Sorting Methods</h3>
<ol>
<li>Visual Dark Room Sorting: Conducted on a specialized cocoon-sorting table with backlighting or illumination to easily spot inner stains and shell thinness.&nbsp;</li>
<li>Sampling Calculation: Random samples (such as batches of 100 to 200 cocoons taken 10 cm beneath the surface layer) are weighed and counted to calculate the exact percentage of defective units.&nbsp;</li>
<li>Machine Vision / Automated Testing: Advanced optical screening and high-speed cameras scan moving cocoons to automatically classify shapes, sizes, and color defects.&nbsp;</li>
</ol>
Step-by-step procedure for manually testing, sorting, and calculating the defect percentage of a batch of mulberry cocoons
<ol>
<li>Manual Sorting Procedure Manual sorting should be conducted in a well-lit room, ideally using a specialized sorting table equipped with frosted glass and under-table illumination (backlighting) to easily spot internal issues.&nbsp; 
<ul>
<li>Step 1: Sampling: Take a representative sample from different depths of the lot. A standard test sample size is usually 1 kg to 2 kg or a fixed count of 100 to 200 cocoons.&nbsp;</li>
<li>Step 2: External Inspection: Spread the sample evenly on the sorting table. Manually separate healthy cocoons from visually defective ones based on shape, texture, and outer stains (e.g., malformed, double, or urinated cocoons).&nbsp;</li>
<li>Step 3: Internal (Light) Inspection: Pass the cocoons over the backlit section. Look for dark shadows inside the shell, which indicate dead, rotted pupae (melted or stained cocoons).&nbsp;</li>
<li>Step 4: Grouping: Separate the sorted defective cocoons into specific categories (e.g., doubles, melted, flimsy, pierced) and count or weigh them separately.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>
How to Calculate the Defective Percentage The defect percentage can be calculated by Count (Number of cocoons) or by Weight. In commercial sericulture markets, calculation by weight is the standard metric.&nbsp;
Method A: Calculation by Weight (Commercial Standard) Defective Cocoon % = (Total Weight of Defective Cocoons / Total Weight of the Sample) x 100
</li>
</ol>
Example:Total sample weight = 1,000 grams Weight of sorted defective cocoons = 80 grams Calculation: (80 \1,000) x 100 = 8%Defect Rate
Method B: Calculation by Count&nbsp; Defective Cocoon % = (Number of Defective Cocoons / Total number of cocoons in the Sample) x 100
<h3>Industry Quality Thresholds</h3>
Generally, a high-quality batch of market-ready cocoons should maintain a total defective percentage under 5% to 7%. Batches exceeding a 10% defect rate are typically penalized with lower price grades during market auctions due to the poor silk recovery (renditta) they yield.