The extraction of fibroin protein from Bombyx mori silk cocoon: Optimization of process parameters

Optimization of protein extraction using silk cocoon was carried out by the design of experiment(DOE) to obtain the response surface methodology ( RSM ). Box-Behnken rotatable design was used tocreate an experimental program to provide data to model the effects of various factors on protein extractionefficiency. The variables chosen were sodium carbonate concentration ( 1 X ), Lithum bromide concentration( 2 X ) and temperature ( 3 X ). The mathematical relationship between protein extraction efficiency and threesignificant independent variables can be approximated by a second order quadratic model. RSM wasused to describe the individual and interactive effects of three variables at three levels, combined accordingto a Box-Behnken Design. The coefficient of determination (2 R ) for the model is 0.9761. Probability value( P < 0.0001) demonstrates a very high significance for the regression model indicating that Box-BehnkenDesign can be applied to the protein extraction from silk cocoon, and it is an economical way of obtainingthe maximum amount of information with the fewest experiments.