Blanching Mulberry Leaves for long term frozen storage.

[kingofnobbys]

I found this academic paper by some Japanese researchers that I think it's worth sharing.

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."

Seems you only need to blanch each leaf for 30 seconds prior to patting dry and freezing in airtight bags or containers and the leafs are just as good afterwards ( the silkworms fed them are just as productive and nutritious as silkworms fed fresh mulberry leafs (or reconstituted chow)).
Worthwhile knowing how to do this as mulberry leafs are unable in winter and silkworm chow can be expensive to buy.
This way , if you are rearing your own silkworms and allowing some to go through their entire life cycle , you can , if you maintain adequately warm room temperatures, have silkworms on hand to use as feeders even in the off season (when they disappear off the market locally) and you wont be reliant on using expensive Silkworm Chow in winter when there are no mulberry trees with leafs on them.