title: Effect of semolina-jaggery diet on survival and development of Drosophila melanogaster.
abstract: Drosophila melanogaster is an ideal model organism for developmental studies. This study tests the potential of semolina-jaggery (SJ) diet as a new formulation for bulk rearing of flies. Semolina and jaggery are organic products obtained from wheat endosperm and cane sugar, respectively. Semolina is a rich source of carbohydrates and protein. Jaggery has a high content of dietary sugars. Moreover, preparation of semolina jaggery diet is cost-effective and easy. Thus, the current study aimed to compare survival and developmental parameters of flies fed the SJ diet to flies fed the standard cornmeal-sugar-yeast (CSY) diet. SJ diet enhanced survival of flies without affecting fecundity; male flies showed increased resistance to starvation. A higher number of flies emerged at F2 and F3 generation when fed the SJ diet than when fed the control CSY diet. SJ diet did not increase fly body weight and lipid percentage. Therefore, SJ diet can be used for bulk rearing of healthy flies at par with the standard cornmeal-sugar-yeast diet.
authors.affiliation: a Structural Biology Lab; Center for Biomedical Research; VIT University ; Vellore , Tamil Nadu , India.
authors.forename: Debarati
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Chattopadhyay
authors.forename: Joel
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: James
authors.forename: Debasish
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Roy
authors.forename: Soumadeep
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sen
authors.forename: Rishita
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Chatterjee
authors.forename: Kavitha
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Thirumurugan
mesh_terms: D000821:Animal Feed / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000818:Animals; D001835:Body Weight; D004032:Diet; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000254:growth & development*; D005260:Female; D005298:Fertility; D005508:Food Deprivation; D007814:Larva / Q000254:growth & development; D008055:Lipids / Q000032:analysis; D008136:Longevity; D008297:Male; D010936:Plant Extracts; D014908:Triticum
chemical_list: C060188:Gur; D008055:Lipids; D010936:Plant Extracts
keywords: Drosophila melanogaster; bulk rearing; longevity; semolina-jaggery diet