Abstract:
Scorpion venom contains many biologically and medically important
compounds. Thus there is a strong demand to obtain venom from various
species of scorpions for research purposes. Objective of the present study is
to determine the optimal conditions for scorpion Heterometrus
swammerdami (Simon 1872) in order to maximize venom yield available for
research. Scorpions were collected from Thirunelvely in Jaffna.
Morphological identification of the collected scorpions was done employing
identification keys. All scorpions were maintained alive in the laboratory in
individual glass tanks and fed with 1-3 cockroaches once a week. Venom
was collected by using electrical stimulation (5- volts) of the telson for a
period of 5-10 seconds. The body weight of scorpion and wet weight of
venom were weighed. In total, 170 rounds of milking were carried out using
50 individual H. Swammerdami (25 female, 25 male). Collected venom was
stored at -20°C until further use. All statistical tests were analysed by using
ANOVA. Gender and body weight were found to cause a major effect on the
venom yield. Male scorpion yielded significantly less (p<0.05) venom (3.7 ±
0.51 mg) than female scorpion (4.0 ± 0.07 mg). However, venom yield
correlated linearly with scorpion weight for scorpion weighing up to 25g
with maximum yield 4.0 ± 0.20 mg. Furthermore, a significant reduction (2.5
± 0.02 mg; p<0.0001) in the venom yield was found during two week time
interval. On the other hand, starvation and state of nutrition did not
significantly affect (p>0.05) the venom yield. These findings can reveal the
optimal condition to increase the venom yield and lead the field of venom
research
