Blanching and Freezing of Mulberry leaves to feed silkworms

[44937]

I wanted to post this as an info link for members to reference. An older link in older threads on the topic is no active. So here is the pdf link to the directions.

https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/kontyushigen1930/55/2/55_2_137/_pdf

ABSTRACT from paper
"Mulberry leaves blanched with hot water were put into polyethylene bags, and stored in a freezer
after as possible had been removed. Then, these mulberry leaves were fed to silkworms to
assess their feed value.
Blanching with hot water prevented mechanical damage to the cells and leakage of the content
of the cells during the freezing and thawing processes. It also inactivated the water soluble oxidase
that is activated by freezing and freezer storage. Blanching at 100oC for 30 seconds was the
optimum condition for blanching. Under this condition, the chlorophyll content of the leaf was
not decreased but about 20% of the carbohydrates were eluted into the hot water. Drying of
mulberry leaves by freezing was prevented by storage in polyethylene bags, and the water content
of the leaves was maintained at 70-75% even on the 120th day of storage. The parent silkworms
for hybridization reared on the stored mulberry leaves become mature and laid eggs."

 

[44937]

I just wanted to post that I blanched a whole garbage bag of mulberry leaves (no it was not fun) as per the directions in this article. I froze the leaves and I am starting to use them to feed to my silkworms and BINGO they are eating them with vigor. I used to freeze mulberry leaves without blanching and as soon as I defrosted the leaves they broke down and didn't hold up. With the blanching for 30 seconds, many of the leaves actually are still green (dark green) and working well with the silk worms.

 

[JacksJill]

There goes the rest of my freezer space. Thanks for the info.