| Abstrak/Abstract |
Atlas moth (Attacus atlas) cocoons consist of two proteins, fibroin, which is a fiber protein
that appears as twin-thread structure, and sericin, which is a globular protein that acts as its adhesive. The
fibroin has been used for a long time as fabric-making materials and the sericin has always been discarded
in the process. However, several research reports that sericin has its potential as antioxidant, UV absorbent,
cosmetic materials and many more. Sericin can be extracted from the cocoons using several methods that
affect its quantity and quality. Thus, elucidating the difference of those methods is a need. Storage of the
cocoons also has to be considered when a large production is desired. Hence, a storage time and storage
condition are crucial. In this study, atlas moth cocoons were used to elucidate the difference result of two
extraction methods, that is using an alkaline solvent called turkey red oil (TRO) and 8 M urea (AR). In this
study, the cocoons from two different sources of two different storage times, old and new, were also used
to determine the storage time effect on the total protein and molecular weight of the sericin protein. It was
found that these two methods yielded the same amount of total protein and weight, that is 1.607 mg/ml
(TRO) and 1.624 mg/ml (ARN), and the same molecular weight (<10 kDa). The storage time affected the
protein molecular weight, which did not show any protein band when SDS-PAGE performed, thus
considering the storage conditions is advised.
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