Natural Silk – an Unusual Fibre: Origin, Processing and World Production

Abstract

The article presents the history of the development of sericulture in the world, including Poland. The advantages of natural silk which cause interest in its production and processing in many countries of the world are indicated. A brief description of mulberry silkworm breeding and the technology of silk processing into textile products are presented. The article provides information on the production of natural silk in several countries in 2015-2019. The share of silk in the world global production of fibres is about 0.2%. Over the last few years, the largest amounts of natural silk have been produced by the following countries: China, India and Uzbekistan – the total share of these countries in the world silk production is about 98%.