In an experiment freshly hatched larvae of an insect (Khapra beetle) were reared on a basal diet (complete…
In an experiment freshly hatched larvae of an insect (Khapra beetle) were reared on a basal diet (complete diet without cholesterol) with increasing amounts of cholesterol. Results obtained are shown in the graph given in the table : The graph indicates that
cholesterol is an essential dietary requirement of khapra beetle
growth of khapra beetle is directly proportional to cholesterol concentration
cholesterol concentration of $2 \mu \mathrm{g} / \mathrm{g}$ diet is the optimum level
growth of khapra beetle is inhibited when cholesterol concentration exceeds $5 \mu \mathrm{g} / \mathrm{g}$ diet.
Solution
According to the graph the growth of the insect takes place as the amount of the cholesterol increase and at $6 \mu \mathrm{g}$ cholesterol $/ \mathrm{g}$ the growth get static. If the growth rate would have been directly proportional to the cholesterol concentration then the graph would have been straight line. (3) is wrong as the optimum level is $6 \mu \mathrm{g} / \mathrm{g}$ cholesterol concentration.
