Eri silkworm, Samia cynthia ricini, which belongs to Satuirniidae, lives in subtropical area and Okinawa islands are suited for its sericulture because of availability of tropical plants to feed on. A porous structure has been observed from a cross section of cocoon filament produced by eri silkworm which does not exist in cocoon of domesticated silkworm. In this study, functionality of two kinds of silk powder (cocoon shell powder and fibroin powder) from eri silkworm was investigated, and the result was compared with that of silk powder (fibroin powder) from domesticated silkworm. We found that silk powder from eri silkworm has hygroscopicity, moisture desorption, and deodorization, similar to that from domesticated silkworm. These results indicate that silk powder from eri silkworm is suited for high performance silk products and suggest that it has an attractive potential for skin care and as an anti-odor agent.
