Eri Silk
Zoological information
- Eri silk is obtained from the insect species; Samia Cynthia Ricini/ Atticus Ricini which belongs to the family of Saturniidae.
- It is popularly known as ‘Peace Silk’, ‘Ahimsa Silk’, and ‘Poor Man’s Silk’.
- It is the only completely domesticated silkworm besides Bombyx mori that feeds on the castor leaves.
- ‘Eri’ is derived from the Assamese word ‘Era’ or ‘Eranda’ meaning castor. Thus, it is known as eri silkworm.
- It is a multivoltine, producing more than two breeds of offspring in a year.
Habitat and Fibre production
- Eri culture is primarily cultured in the Northeastern States of India.
- Eri culture is widely practised in Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, and Nagaland, and around 98% of the national demand is fulfilled by the produce obtained from these
- Since recently, it is practiced on a smaller scale in states like Orrisa, West Bengal, Bihar, and Andhra Pradesh.
- The silk is spun as staple fibres are obtained from the open-ended cocoons.
- In India, eri silk is known as ‘Endi’.
- It is more expensive than other silks as it takes time to practice the skill and spin the cocoons.
- The life cycle of an eri silkworm is roughly six weeks in summer and twelve weeks in winter.
- In 2016-2017, out of total raw silk production (30348 metric tons), eri silk accounted for the 17.8% (5563.7 metric tons) of the natural raw silk fibre.
Table 1. Physical & mechanical properties and chemical composition of areca nut fibres
Physical and Mechanical properties
Length
40-60 mm
Diameter
19.4 µm
Tenacity
33.4 g/tex
Elongation
19.5%
Chemical composition
Fibroin
82-88%
Sericin
11-13%
Waxy matter
1.5-2.2%
Minerals, Ash, and other material
2-3%
Features of the fibre
- Eri silk is extracted as a staple fibre having appropriate fineness, cross-sectional shape, and surface properties.
- It provides a feel like cotton, luster like silk and warmth and bulkiness like wool and is softest of all the silk fibres.
- It has excellent thermal regulation properties; thus, it provides warmth in winter and coolness in summer.
- Eri silk is resistant to piling and has good elastic recovery.
- It possesses higher elongation, and shrinkage properties.
- It is moisture absorbent, solid and depicts good form which gives a typical texture.
- It is finer than Muga and Tasar silk and is softer than Mulberry silk.
- It is important to give proper twist to the yarn to maintain the dimensional stability of the garments and made ups.
Uses
- It creates the finest quality blankets, sweaters, and suiting materials.
- The durable chaddars or wrappers’ winter shawls are usually used as winter clothing in the colder regions.
- Jackets, dress materials, baby dresses, bedspreads, etc., are also made using eri silk.
- Also, finer yarns are used to weave the traditional sarees and dress materials.
- It is also widely used to make home furnishing products such as bed covers, cushion covers, curtains, quilts, wall hangings, etc.
- Eri silk shows good blending properties and thus is commonly blended with other natural silks, cotton, wool, jute, and synthetic fibres.
- It is a preferred material of Buddhists and Vegans as producing Eri silk does not require killing the moth.
