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Waste Valorization via Hermetia illucens: Potential Applications of Insect Biomass

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A special issue of Animals (ISSN 2076-2615).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 June 2022) | Viewed by 14486

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Alessia Giannetto

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Guest Editor

Department of Chemical, Biological, Pharmaceutical and Environmental Sciences, University of Messina, Viale Ferdinando Stagno d’Alcontres, 31, 98166 Messina, Italy
Interests: alternative nutritional sources, bioactive molecules, aquaculture; environmental toxicology; oxidative stress; immune response, cell and molecular biology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Dr. Basilio Randazzo

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Co-Guest Editor

Department of Agri-Food, Environmental and Animal Sciences - DI4A, University of Udine, Via delle Scienze 206, 33100 Udine, Italy
Interests: aquaculture; fish physiology; fish histology; fish nutrition; fish disease

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In the last five years (2016–2020), the volume of scientific articles focusing on the Black Soldier Fly (BSF) Hermetia illucens has grown almost exponentially, reaching more than 700 papers published on different international peer reviewed journals (data updated to February 2021, Scopus). The increasing interest of the scientific community has arisen from the particularly fascinating key role of the BSF in waste valorization during the larval bioconversion of organic wastes into valuable alternative sources of nutrients, mainly fats and proteins.

Recently, the circular economy concept has gained great attention within the European Community and the Directive 2008/98/EC is having a key role in food waste management particularly because the estimated increase in the world population will cause a significant rise in waste and by-products production.

As such, the biotechnological process of the BSF represents a sustainable and economically interesting joint solution for both waste management and the production of sustainable protein- and fat-rich biomass for several productive sectors including animal feed formulations.

The urgent need to meet the growing global demand for nutrients requires scientific research to clarify the enormous potentialities of bioconversion by BSF through a multidisciplinary approach involving expertise in waste treatment, microbial safety, animal nutrition, biodiesel and bioactive compounds production, as well as regulations thus implementing this innovative solution within a context of circular economy. Original research papers and review articles reporting on all these aspects are welcome.

Dr. Alessia Giannetto
Dr. Basilio Randazzo
Guest Editors

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Keywords

Hermetia illucens
bioconversion
waste valorization
feed
aquaculture
BSF meals

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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15 pages, 943 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Growth and Fatty Acid Composition of Black Soldier Fly Hermetia illucens (Diptera: Stratiomyidae) Larvae Are Influenced by Dietary Fat Sources and Levels

by Xiangce Li, Yewei Dong, Qiuxuan Sun, Xiaohong Tan, Cuihong You, Yanhua Huang and Meng Zhou

Animals 2022, 12(4), 486; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ani12040486 - 16 Feb 2022

Cited by 20 | Viewed by 3729

Abstract

A 16-day rearing trial was performed to investigate the influence of two supplemental levels (5% and 10%) of six dietary fat sources (linseed oil, peanut oil, coconut oil, soybean oil, lard oil and fish oil) on the growth, development and nutrient composition of black solider fly larvae. Our results demonstrated that the pre-pupa rate of larvae was linearly influenced by dietary C18:0, C18:3n-3 and C18:2n-6 content (pre-pupa rate = 0.927 × C18:0 content + 0.301 × C18:3n-3 content-0.258 × C18:2n-6 content p < 0.001)), while final body weight was linearly influenced by that of C16:0 (final body weight = 0.758 × C16:0 content, p = 0.004). Larval nutrient composition was significantly affected by dietary fat sources and levels, with crude protein, fat and ash content of larvae varying between 52.0 and 57.5, 15.0 and 23.8, and 5.6 and 7.2% dry matter. A higher level of C12:0 (17.4–28.5%), C14:0 (3.9–8.0%) and C16:1n-9 (1.3–4.3%) was determined in larvae fed the diets containing little of them. In comparison, C16:0, C18:1n-9, C18:2n-6 and C18:3n-3 proportions in larvae were linearly related with those in diets, with the slope of the linear equations varying from 0.39 to 0.60. It can be concluded that sufficient C16:0, C18:0 and C18:3n-3 supply is beneficial for larvae growth. Larvae could produce and retain C12:0, C14:0, and C16:1n-9 in vivo, but C16:0, C18:1n-9, C18:2n-6 and C18:3n-3 could only be partly incorporated from diets and the process may be enhanced by a higher amount of dietary fat. Based on the above observation, an accurately calculated amount of black soldier fly larvae could be formulated into aquafeed as the main source of saturated fatty acids and partial source of mono-unsaturated and poly-unsaturated fatty acids to save fish oil. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Waste Valorization via Hermetia illucens: Potential Applications of Insect Biomass)

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12 pages, 274 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Different Combinations of Butchery and Vegetable Wastes on Growth Performance, Chemical-Nutritional Characteristics and Oxidative Status of Black Soldier Fly Growing Larvae

by Nicola Francesco Addeo, Simone Vozzo, Giulia Secci, Vincenzo Mastellone, Giovanni Piccolo, Pietro Lombardi, Giuliana Parisi, Khalid A. Asiry, Youssef A. Attia and Fulvia Bovera

Animals 2021, 11(12), 3515; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ani11123515 - 09 Dec 2021

Cited by 14 | Viewed by 2927

Abstract

Hermetia illucens larvae (five days old) were farmed on broiler feed (control diet), a vegetable diet (V100), a 50% of vegetable diet + 50% of butchery wastes (V50 + B50), and a 75% of vegetable diet + 25% of butchery wastes (V75 + B25) to evaluate their suitability. Ten kilograms of substrate and 6000 larvae composed each replicate (nine per group). Larvae were weighed and measured every two days until the 25% developed into prepupae. Larval mortality and growing indexes were calculated. Substrates, larvae, and frass chemical composition were analyzed. Larvae oxidative status and stability were measured in hemolymph and body. The V100 larvae showed the lowest live weight, length, thickness, and growth rate but had low mortality rate and high substrate reduction index and protein conversion ratio. The V100 larvae had similar protein to and lower lipids than the control ones, while the V50 + B50 and V75 + B25 larvae contained higher lipids and lower protein than the others. Despite the vegetable wastes, at different levels, the reactive oxygen species content decreased in hemolymph, and the V100 diet depressed growth performance and should be avoided. The use of butchery wastes combined with vegetable ingredients can be a suitable alternative to balance the high level of lipid and the low content of protein. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Waste Valorization via Hermetia illucens: Potential Applications of Insect Biomass)

15 pages, 1572 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Black Soldier Fly (Hermetia illucens) Larvae and Prepupae Defatted Meals in Diets for Zebrafish (Danio rerio)

by Carlos F. C. Lanes, Fabio A. Pedron, Giovani T. Bergamin, Andressa L. Bitencourt, Brenda E. R. Dorneles, Jessica C. V. Villanova, Kimberly C. Dias, Kristian Riolo, Sabrina Oliva, Domenico Savastano and Alessia Giannetto

Animals 2021, 11(3), 720; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ani11030720 - 06 Mar 2021

Cited by 9 | Viewed by 3602

Abstract

The black soldier fly (BSF) Hermetia illucens is receiving increasing attention as a sustainable fishmeal alternative protein source for aquaculture. To date, no studies have explored the effects of fishmeal replacement with BSF V instar larvae or prepupae meals due to their peculiar nutritional properties on fish performances. This study investigated the effects of 100% replacement of fishmeal (control diet) with defatted BSF meals (V instar larvae and prepupae meals, treatments) on growth performance and welfare of zebrafish (Danio rerio), from larvae to adults, in a 60-day feeding trial. Following the inclusion of BSF meals, the expression of key genes involved in growth (igf1, igf2, mstnb, myod1, myog, myf5), hydrolysis of chitin (chia.2, chia.3, chia.5), immune- (il1b, il6, tnfα), and stress- (hsp70 and nr3c1) responses, as assessed by qPCR, was modulated in all of the molecular pathways, except for the stress response. Overall, our findings showed that both BSF meals can totally replace fishmeal without adverse impacts on adult zebrafish growth parameters (final total and standard length, final body weight, weight gain, daily growth rate, specific growth rate) and welfare, with BSF prepupae meal inducing the most beneficial effects, thus suggesting their potential application to meet fish requirements in aquaculture. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Waste Valorization via Hermetia illucens: Potential Applications of Insect Biomass)

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Other

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10 pages, 1040 KiB

Open AccessBrief Report

Bioconversion of Digestate, Pig Manure and Vegetal Residue-Based Waste Operated by Black Soldier Fly Larvae, Hermetia illucens L. (Diptera: Stratiomyidae)

by Teun Veldkamp, Klaas van Rozen, Hellen Elissen, Piet van Wikselaar and Rommie van der Weide

Animals 2021, 11(11), 3082; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ani11113082 - 28 Oct 2021

Cited by 18 | Viewed by 3306

Abstract

Insects can play an important role to upgrade waste streams into high-grade proteins and fats as food and feed ingredients or non-food products. The aim of this research was to assess the feasibility to use waste streams with a low value for direct application as animal feed as substrates to grow BSF larvae in terms of larval growth rate, waste reduction index, and efficiency of conversion of ingested feed. The growth of black soldier fly (BSF), Hermetia illucens larvae and conversion of biowaste was assessed in triplicate in biowaste substrates: chicken feed (CF; reference diet), pig manure solid (PMS), Betafert^® solid (BTFS), swill (SW), olive pulp (OP), pig manure liquid mixed with chicken feed (PMLCF), and silage grass (SG). Per kilogram fresh substrate 2500 starter (8-days-old, second instar) larvae were incubated in 21 plastic containers (75 × 47 × 15 cm). The BSF larvae were fed according to a batch feeding system. Highest growth rate was found in larvae reared on SW (13.4 mg/d). Larval growth rate was even higher than in larvae reared on the reference substrate CF (7.2 mg/d). Growth rate in larvae reared on PMLCF (7.3 mg/d) did not differ from CF, whereas growth rate of larvae reared on PMS (3.2 mg/d) was lower than on CF. Growth rate of larvae reared on BTFS, OP and SG was very low (0.6, 0.2 and 0.7 mg/d, respectively). Waste Reduction Index (WRI) was highest on SW (11.3), followed by PMLCF (9.3), and both were higher than WRI on CF (8.5). Waste Reduction Index further decreased in descending order from PMS, SG, BTFS to OP (7.6, 4.0, 2.9 and 1.7, respectively). The Efficiency of Conversion of Ingested substrate (ECI) was highest on SW (0.31), followed in descending order by PMLCF, CF and PMS (0.25, 0.21 and 0.18, respectively). The substrates OP, BTFS and SG (0.16, 0.15 and 0.14, respectively) resulted in a lower ECI than other substrates. Highest CO₂ and lowest NH₃ concentrations were found above substrates with the highest larval growth performances. This study showed that BSF larvae can be reared on different biowaste substrates; the growth rate of the larvae was extremely high on SW. The effects of chemical composition and physical properties of the substrates on larval growth and gas emissions should be further considered. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Waste Valorization via Hermetia illucens: Potential Applications of Insect Biomass)

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