LED Effects on the artificial diet of the silkworm

Abstract

Light-emitting diodes (LEDs) have become widely used in recent years. We investigated the deterioration of quality of silkworm artificial diets because of LED exposure. First, feeding tests were performed on first-stage larvae on artificial diets irradiated with blue, red, green, and white LEDs at 50 µmol/m²/s for 96 hr. Results showed that the larvae fed well on the artificial diet under dark conditions, while they did not feed on the artificial diet irradiated with LEDs of various types. Next, feeding tests of artificial diets irradiated with different levels of white LED indicated that artificial diets irradiated with 1 µmol/m²/s white LED for 96 hr were not consumed, whereas artificial diets irradiated with 5 µmol/m²/s white LED were consumed. Of the silkworm larvae, 100% fed on the artificial diet irradiated with 10 µmol/m²/s white LED for 12 hr, whereas the percentage of larvae feeding on the artificial diet irradiated for 24 hr dropped to about 14%. These results indicate that white LEDs are useful for rearing if the irradiance and irradiation time are considered.