2.4. Characterization of sericin powder
2.4.1. Assessment of protein content
The protein content in sericin powder was assayed by Lowry’s method using bovine serum albumin (BSA) as a standard.
2.4.2. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis
XRD was conducted at ambient temperature with X’pert PRO X- ray diffractometer (PANalytical, Netherlands) having an X-ray tube producing monochromatic CuKa radiation. Powdered samples were mounted onto sample stage to record the crystallinity index. Sample stage was mounted on horizontal axis and the diffracted beam optics and the detector were mounted on 2q axis. The scan- ning rate was 0.5 /min at 2q ¼ 5 e35 under the acceleration voltage of 30 kV and 20 mA.