抄録
The cocoon shells of several silkworm races contain flavonoids. We recently found that cocoon shells of Ryokuken races such as Daizo contain specific flavonoids that are almost non-existent in cocoon shells of Sasamayu races such as Pure Mysore. Usually, LC-MS systems are used to analyze flavonoids in cocoon shells. However, these systems require a great deal of time and effort to operate and maintain. Here, we confirmed that absorbance at a wavelength of 365 nm of aqueous methanolic extracts of the cocoons was well correlated with the total flavonoid content of the cocoons. The absorbance ratio (A420 nm: A365 nm) of the extracts was correlated with the percentage of Ryokuken-specific flavonoids in the cocoons. We propose a simple analytical method using a UV-VIS photospectrometer to roughly estimate the amount and composition of cocoon flavonoids. This may help in the genetic study and breeding of Ryokuken and Sasamayu races.
