Chemical composition of silk fibres

Silk is a natural textile fiber and it is collected from the insects named silkworm. The silk warm is the caterpillar of a small off white moth belonging to the species Bombyx mori. The fiber which is collected from the insects that is required to treat before fabric production. Different types of impurities are contained in the raw silk.

Chemical Composition of Silk Fiber: Various types of chemical components are composed in the chemical structure of the silk fiber. Here, I have presented a chemical composition of raw silk fiber.

Fibroin : 75%

Ash of Silk Fibroin : 0.5%

Sericin : 22.5%

Fat and Wax : 1.5%

Mineral Salt : 0.5%

This composition is calculated in 100 percent.

It is important to know that, the fibroin is composed of 16 various amino acids. Raw Silk is composed of two filaments which are produced by the fibroin. These two filaments are adjusted by the gum which is known as sericin and different types of mineral salt, fat and wax also involved with it.