A Sustainable Method for the Extraction of Sericin Protein from Silk Cocoon

The possible uses of the silk protein sericin in the biological, cosmetic and pharmaceutical sectors have attracted a lot of interest. This research article opens our understanding toward a simple & inexpensive technique towards the degumming of silk cocoons with water. Sericin was extracted using the procedure of degumming and evaporation technique with minor modifications based on the technique Wu et al., 2007. The structure and characteristics of the extracted sericin were similar to those of the commercially available standard sericin. The extract was subjected to FTIR analysis and SS-NMR spectroscopy. Functional groups and the major components of the extract were found to be similar.  The technique was substitute for industrial applications. Since, cost effective and environmentally benign methodology.