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RECYCLING FECES

OF SILKWORM BY

FEEDING COWS

INTERNATIONAL PRESIDENTIAL SCHOOL

DUSHANBE 2016

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CONTENTS

1. Editor and advisory 3

2. Abstract 4

3. Introduction 4

4. Methods 6

1. ANALYZING COWS’ MILK FOR CONTROL 7

a. Density test 8

b. Acidity test 9

c. Butter-fat test 10

2. ANALYZING COWS’ MILK FOR TEST 11

6. Results

a. Result of density test 12

b. Results of acidity test 13

c. Results of butter-fat test 14

7. Conclusion 15

8. References 16

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EDITOR AND ADVISORY

Hüsnü Yaman

Biology Teacher at International Presidential School

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RECYCLING FECES OF SILKWORM BY FEEDING COWS

INTRODUCTION

This project is about how to evaluate feces of silkworm.

Does it really worth to use it as a fodder of cattle.

The silkworm is the larva or caterpillar of a moth. It is

domesticated and still being breed by humans. Silkworms

eat mulberry leaves. Silk has been used for at least 5000 years

in China.

One female silkworm lays 300 eggs on the leaves of

mulberry leaves. In spring in a temperature of 18-25 0C, eggs

hatch into larvae. These Larvae produce a round black feces as they eat leaves.

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Arthropoda

Class: Insecta

Order: Lepidoptera

Family: Bombycidae

Genus: Bombyx

Binomial name

Bombyx mori Linnaeus, 1758

ABSTRACT

Silkworm eats leaves of mulberry, produces silk and removing feces. It is not used and

thrown as waste.

We started this project for making use of feces of silkworm. We found that it is not only

a recyclable waste but also is very beneficial for feeding cows.

Our hypothesis is ‘feces of silkworm can be used as fodder for cows and it increase

quality of milk’.

We observed quality of milk in three steps: Density test, acidity test and butterfat test.

We determined five cows. We fed them with bran and straw for two days. Next we took

milk of them for quality test. Then we fed them with feces of silkworm and straw for two days

again. We milked them and tested their milk again.

After taking result of test, the expected results in density, acidity and 5% increase in

butterfat content of milk proved that our hypothesis is correct.

Feces of silkworm can also be used for putting on weight for calf and keeping their body

hot in winter.

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Feces of larvae are cylinder-shaped particles, 2 to 5mm long, 1.5 to 5mm in

diameter. The surface is grey, rough and it smells like fresh grass.

Tens or hundreds of larvae do not produce too much feces but hundreds kilos of

feces are being produced from millions of silkworm in one season. This amount of feces

encouraged us to find a way of recycling and returning it to profit of Tajikistan.

After collecting some data about feces of silkworm we found that feces is unlike the

waste of other animals. It had been used as a medical remedy by Chinese people before

many years. So we proposed an hypothesis about recycling of feces of silkworm:

‘Feces of silkworm can be used as a

fodder for cows and it increase the quality of

milk.’

In order to examine our hypothesis, we made

milk quality control before and after feeding

cows with feces of silkworm. Milk quality

control involve testing chemical composition and

purity of milk.

In quality control we used following tests:

1. Density of milk

2. Acidity of milk

3. Butterfat content of milk

Steps of our project:

1. Cows’ milk quality analysis for control

2. Cows’ milk quality analysis for test

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METHODS

1. COWS’ MILK QUALITY ANALYSIS FOR CONTROL

A. Density test:

Aim: To find out density of milk

B. Acidity test:

Aim: To measure amount of lactic acid produced by bacteria

C: Butterfat test

Aim: To detect amount of butter in milk.

2. MILK QUALITY ANALYSIS FOR TEST

I. Milking cows after feeding with feces of silkworm.

II. Quality analysis for test

Aim: To understand how feces of silkworm affects the quality of milk.

A. Density test:

B. Acidity test:

C: Butterfat test

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METHODS

1. ANALYZING COWS’ MILK FOR CONTROL

Feed cows with 600gr bran and 1000gr straw in the morning and in afternoon. Than

take milk samples after 2 days feeding.

1. We had 5 cows fed for two days with 1 kg straw and 0.5 kg bran 2 times a day.

2. After 2 days feeding we took sample milk in bottles from 5 cows.

3. Then we made following tests.

1. DENSITY TEST

MATERIALS:

Sensitive scale Graduated cylinder Beaker

Milk Calculator

PROCEDURE:

1. Take 100ml in a graduated cylinder

2. Measure the mass of this milk on a

scale.

3. Calculate the density of milk by using

following formula.

𝐷𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑦 = 𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑠/𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒

4. Calculate density of each cow’s milk by using above method.

5. Write results on a table.

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2. ACIDITY TEST

MATERIALS

1. You need a buret

2. A medicine dropper for phenophthalein

3. An erlenmeyer flask or similar

4. 0.1 N NaOH solution

5. Phenolphthalein indicator solution, 0.5% in 50% Alcohol

PROCEDURE

1. Fill your buret with NaOH,

2. Measure 10ml of your milk based on

your NaOH normality into an Erlenmeyer.

3. Drop 3 drops of phenophthalein with the

help of medicine dropper into the

erlenmeyer and mix/swirl the erlenmeyer

4. Open the cock on your buret and start

dropping the NaOH solution into

erlenmeyer till you get a constant light pink

color, shake after each drop.

6. Once you get a light pink color, stop the

NaOH dropping and measure/read how

much NaOH you used on your buret’s

markings.

CALCULATION:

1,7 ml of N/10 NaOH are required for titration of a 10 ml sample of milk.

10 x 1.7 = 17 ml would therefore be needed for 100 ml, and the acidity is 17 0Th

% Lactic acid: Number of ml of NaOH required to make milk pink.

% Lactic acid: 2,6 x100/10

% Lactic acid: 26 0Th

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3. BUTTERFAT TEST

Material Required: - Milk

- Sulfuric acid (density 1.825 g/L)

- Amyl alcohol (density 0.815 g/L)

Apparatus: - Gerber butyrometer for

milk and appropriate corks;

- Shelf for butyrometer;

- Volumetric pipette (10 and 11 mL);

- Gerber centrifuge;

Procedure:

1. Carefully dispense 10 ml of sulphuric acid

into the butyrometer;

2. Carefully add 11 mL milk to the

butyrometer, by letting it to slowly

flow down the glass walls in order to

it does not mix with the acid;

3. Dispense 1 ml of amyl alcohol

4. Clean the neck of the butyrometer;

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5. Stopper the butyrometer tightly using a

clean, dry stopper.

6. Shake and invert the butyrometer several

times until all the milk has been absorbed

by the acid.

7. Place the butyrometer in a water bath at

65-75°C for 5 minutes. mixing content

from time to time

8. Centrifuge for 4 to 5 minutes at 1200

rpm in the Gerber centrifuge

9. Remove the butyrometer of the

centrifuge adjust the meniscus by putting

back into hot water.

10. Read out fat content from low part of

upper meniscus.

11. Do the same procedure for other milk samples.

12. Write your results in a table.

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2. MILK QUALITY ANALYSIS FOR TEST

Feed cows with 600gr feces of silkworm and 1000gr straw in the morning and in

afternoon. After 2 days feeding take sample milk from 5 cows. Next carry out following

tests again.

A. Density test:

B. Acidity test:

C: Butterfat test

Write your results in three consecutive tables.

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RESULTS

1. RESULTS OF DENSITY TEST

Milk samples

Control g/L Test g/L Expected Average g/L

1st 1.032 1.030 1.027-1.032

2nd 1.018 1.029 1.027- 1.032

3rd 1.029 1.027 1.027- 1.032

4th 1.029 1,032 1.027- 1.032

5th 1.029 1,028 1.027- 1.032

After feeding cows with feces all results of test group have regular and standard densities

which are in range of expected values.

1,010

1,015

1,020

1,025

1,030

1,035

1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th

De

nsi

tie

s

Milk samples

DENSITY TEST

Control g/ml Test g/ml

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2. RESULTS OF ACIDITY TEST

Milk samples

Control Test Expected Average

1st 260Th 190Th 15-190Th

2nd 160Th 200Th 15-190Th

3rd 240Th 180Th 15-190Th

4th 190Th 250Th 15-190Th

5th 210Th 220Th 15-190Th

Thörner degrees of acidity indicate the number of ml of a 0.1 n NAOH solution required to

neutralize 100 ml of milk to which two parts of water have been added.

In test group except 4th milk sample acidity is low. Feeding cows with feces of caterpillar

decreased acidity in common. 4th cow didn’t like and ate little feces of caterpillar. So

acidity of its milk resulted higher than other milk.

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th

Aci

dit

y

Milk samples

ACIDITY TEST

Control Th Test Th

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3. RESULT OF BUTTER-FAT TEST

Milk samples Control (%) Test (%) Expected Average

1st 4,5 10 3.2- 6.0 %

2nd 8,0 10 3.2- 6.0 %

3rd 7,0 10 3.2- 6.0 %

4th 15 22 3.2- 6.0 %

5th 15 22 3.2- 6.0 %

Fat content of milk changes according to feeding behavior of cow. Higher fat content

increases quality and prices of milk. After feeding cows with feces of silkworm fat content

of milk samples increased by 5-7 percent.

0

5

10

15

20

25

1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th

Pe

rce

tage

of

fat

Milk samples

BUTTER-FAT TEST

Control (%) Test (%)

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CONCLUSION

All test results were perfect. In average 5% increase in butterfat test proves that our

hypothesis is correct. Feces of silkworm has increased the quality of milk.

Density of a high quality milk should not be lower than 1.027 g/L and higher than

1.032. 87-88 % of milk is water. 11-12 % are protein, lactose, fat and minerals. Protein

content increase and fat content decreases the density of milk. Density test showed us

feeding cows with feces of silkworm keep density in expected values.

A high quality milk has low acidity between 15-190Th. Acidity is closer to normal in

test group than control group. It is also affected from container and keeping milk for some

time before analyze. Some normal acidity results also enough for using feces as fodder.

Feces of silkworm is also nutritive for putting on weight for calf. It is used as fodder

to keep body of cattle warm in winter.

It was also used in Ancient China as a medical remedy. It is found that this feces

include chlorophyll, cholesterol, amino acid carotene (vitamin A), vitamin B and vitamin

C. It was used for patients who has diarrhea, vomiting spasm and eczema. May be in the

future it will be a new remedy for animals and human.

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REFERENCES

1. Silkworm Wikipedia the free encyclopedia https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silkworm 22

November 2015

2. Feces of silkworm Silkworm store http://www.silkwormstore.co.uk/guide-to-raising-

silkworms.html

3. Silkworms Pisches enterprises http://www.piscesenterprises.com

4. Feces of silkworm Chinese Herbs Healing http://www.chineseherbshealing.com/bombyx-mori-

feces-can-sha/

5. Milk testing and Quality Control

http://www.fao.org/ag/againfo/resources/documents/MPGuide/mpguide2.htm

6. Milk density test Density of Milk

http://hypertextbook.com/facts/2002/AliciaNoelleJones.shtml

7. Determination of Fat in Milking My Agriculture Information bank

http://agriinfo.in/?page=topic&superid=9&topicid=715 2015

8. Fat testing, Gerber test

http://d163axztg8am2h.cloudfront.net/static/doc/7f/7f/9756948ececbee03519aedce50a5.pdf

9. Determination of milk fat http://karnet.up.wroc.pl/~rak/pliki/eng/milk_class__2_eng.pdf

10. Determination of raw milk quality http://karnet.up.wroc.pl/~rak/pliki/eng/milk_class__1_eng.pdf

11. Manual on milk safety- quality and hygiene

http://www.gartzambia.org/files/Download/Dairy%20manual%20-%20Milk%20quality.pdf May 2011

12. Dairy Technology http://www.apv-

tapflo.ro/userfiles/file/Dairy_Technology_9002_01_07_2008_GB.pdf

13. Babcock test https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babcock_test 1 December 2015

14. Fat content of milk https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fat_content_of_milk 22 September 2015

15. Butterfat content impacts milk prices

https://extension.usu.edu/cache/files/uploads/BUTTERFAT%20CONTENT%20IMPACTS%20MILK%2

0PRICES12-10.pdf

16. Density of Milk http://hypertextbook.com/facts/2002/AliciaNoelleJones.shtml Alicia Noelle Jones --

2002

17. Milk chemistry https://www.ilri.org/InfoServ/Webpub/fulldocs/ilca_manual4/Milkchemistry.htm

18. Determination of Activity of Milk http://agriinfo.in/?page=topic&superid=9&topicid=716 2015

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19. MANUAL OF METHODS OF ANALYSIS OF FOODS

http://mohfw.nic.in/WriteReadData/l892s/Milk%20and%20Milk%20Products%20-%20final%20-

%20nov%2005-21198200.pdf