Search for Articles:
Title / Keyword
Author / Affiliation / Email
Journal
Article Type
 
 
Advanced Search
 
Section
Special Issue
Volume
Issue
Number
Page
 
4.2
3.0
Journals
Insects
Special Issues
Recent Advances in Black Soldier Fly Research
share announcement

Recent Advances in Black Soldier Fly Research

A special issue of Insects (ISSN 2075-4450). This special issue belongs to the section "Role of Insects in Human Society".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 March 2023) | Viewed by 12099

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Longyu Zheng

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology and National Engineering Research Center of Microbial Pesticides, College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China
Interests: Black Soldier Fly; edible insects; waste management; insects as food and feed; microbial ecology; bioenergy

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The black soldier fly (BSF), Hermetia illucens L., has drawn increasing attention for its promising potential of waste nutrition recycling to produce novel alternative protein, lipids, chitin resources, and other bioproducts, which is very beneficial to the sustainable development of society and economy. It is becoming one important star insect for both scientific research and industrial application. A Special Issue will be organized by the journal Insects to present the latest research progress on BSF. This Special Issue will cover all aspects of BSF-related research, including but not limited to the biology, microbiology, conversion technology, environmental effects, product development, and applications. We cordially invite you to submit a review or original research paper to this Special Issue.

Dr. Longyu Zheng
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Insects is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Black Soldier Fly
  • Hermetia illucens
  • edible insect
  • waste management
  • insects as food and feed

Published Papers (5 papers)

Download All Papers
Order results
Result details
Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

16 pages, 3629 KiB  
Article
Specific Expression of Antimicrobial Peptides from the Black Soldier Fly in the Midgut of Silkworms (Bombyx mori) Regulates Silkworm Immunity
by Xuan Deng, Lianlian Liu, Jing Deng and Xingfu Zha
Insects 2023, 14(5), 443; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/insects14050443 - 08 May 2023
Viewed by 1798
Abstract
Antimicrobial peptides are molecules with strong antimicrobial activity and are of substantial interest for the immunization of insects. As a type of dipteran insect that can turn organic waste into animal feed, the black soldier fly (BSF) can “turn waste into treasure”. In [...] Read more.
Antimicrobial peptides are molecules with strong antimicrobial activity and are of substantial interest for the immunization of insects. As a type of dipteran insect that can turn organic waste into animal feed, the black soldier fly (BSF) can “turn waste into treasure”. In this study, we investigated the antimicrobial activity of the antimicrobial peptide genes, HiCG13551 and Hidiptericin-1, of BSF in silkworms, by overexpressing the genes specifically in the midgut. Changes in the mRNA levels of the transgenic silkworms after infection with Staphylococcus aureus were evaluated using transcriptome sequencing. The results showed that Hidiptericin-1 had stronger antimicrobial activity than HiCG13551. KEGG enrichment analysis showed that the differentially expressed genes in the transgenic overexpressed Hidiptericin-1 silkworm lines from the D9L strain were mainly enriched in the starch and sucrose metabolism, pantothenate and CoA biosynthesis, drug metabolism (other enzymes), biotin metabolism, platinum drug resistance, galactose metabolism, and pancreatic secretion pathways. In addition, immune-related genes were up-regulated in this transgenic silkworm strain. Our study may provide new insights for future immune studies on insects. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in Black Soldier Fly Research)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

13 pages, 2561 KiB  
Article
Effects of Disinfectants on Larval Growth and Gut Microbial Communities of Black Soldier Fly Larvae
by Jianwei Hao, Shuang Liu, Zhixue Guo, Yan Zhang, Wuping Zhang and Chujun Li
Insects 2023, 14(3), 250; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/insects14030250 - 02 Mar 2023
Viewed by 1493
Abstract
The use of the black soldier fly has been demonstrated to be effective in the treatment of swine manure. Since the outbreaks of ASFV, prevention procedures, including manure disinfection, have changed dramatically. Glutaraldehyde (GA) and potassium peroxymonosulfate (PPMS) have been shown to be [...] Read more.
The use of the black soldier fly has been demonstrated to be effective in the treatment of swine manure. Since the outbreaks of ASFV, prevention procedures, including manure disinfection, have changed dramatically. Glutaraldehyde (GA) and potassium peroxymonosulfate (PPMS) have been shown to be effective in the prevention of this pathogen and are thus widely used in the disinfection of swine manures, etc. However, research on the effects of disinfectants in manures on the growth of BSFL and gut microbiota is scarce. The goal of this study was to determine the effects of GA and PPMS on BSFL growth, manure reduction, and gut microbiota. In triplicate, 100 larvae were inoculated in 100 g of each type of manure compound (manure containing 1% GA treatment (GT1), manure containing 0.5% GA treatment (GT2), manure containing 1% PPMS treatment (PT1), manure containing 0.5% PPMS treatment (PT2), and manure without disinfectant (control)). After calculating the larval weight and waste reduction, the larval gut was extracted and used to determine the microbial composition. According to the results, the dry weights of the larvae fed PT1–2 (PT1: 86.7 ± 4.2 mg and PT2: 85.3 ± 1.3 mg) were significantly higher than those of the larvae fed GT1–2 (GT1: 72.5 ± 2.1 mg and GT2: 70 ± 2.8 mg) and the control (64.2 ± 5.8 mg). There was a 2.8–4.03% higher waste reduction in PT1–2 than in the control, and the waste reduction in GT1–2 was 7.17–7.87% lower than that in the control. In a gut microbiota analysis, two new genera (Fluviicola and Fusobacterium) were discovered in PT1–2 when compared to GT1–2 and the control. Furthermore, the disinfectants did not reduce the diversity of the microbial community; rather, Shannon indices revealed that the diversities of GT1–2 (GT1: 1.924 ± 0.015; GT2: 1.944 ± 0.016) and PT1 (1.861 ± 0.016) were higher than those of the control (1.738 ± 0.015). Finally, it was found that both disinfectants in swine manures at concentrations of 1% and 0.5% may be beneficial to the complexity and cooperation of BSFL gut microbiota, according to an analysis of microbial interactions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in Black Soldier Fly Research)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

16 pages, 5467 KiB  
Article
Toxic Effects of Industrial Flocculants Addition on Bioconversion of Black Soldier Fly Larvae (Hermetia illucens L.)
by Zhaochang Zhang, Liqi Chen, Kunlun Yang, Tao Wang, Yuting Wang, Yifan Jia, Yijiang Yin, Peng Gu and Hengfeng Miao
Insects 2022, 13(8), 683; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/insects13080683 - 28 Jul 2022
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1920
Abstract
Black soldier fly is a saprophagous insect that has been widely reported in recent years due to its excellent performance in bioremediation. Due to the widespread presence of flocculants in the organic waste treated by black soldier fly larvae, this study aimed to [...] Read more.
Black soldier fly is a saprophagous insect that has been widely reported in recent years due to its excellent performance in bioremediation. Due to the widespread presence of flocculants in the organic waste treated by black soldier fly larvae, this study aimed to evaluate the potential impacts and risks of flocculant addition (a combination of poly aluminum chloride and polyacrylamide with the ratio of 50:1). Results showed that the growth and weight of BSFL in the high-exposure groups (≥200 mg/L) were inhibited. The bioaccumulation of aluminum (Al) in larvae was estimated, and the proportions of different Al forms in the frass from high to low were the residual state (41.38% to 67.92%), water-soluble state (16.88% to 37.03%), acid-soluble state (8.45% to 18.72%), and alkali-soluble state (3.38% to 5.14%). The relative abundance of bacterial genera related to lipid metabolism decreased with increasing flocculant concentrations while disease-related taxa increased in relative abundance. The results serve as a reference for subsequent research and application of the treatment of flocculant-contaminated waste by BSFL. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in Black Soldier Fly Research)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

15 pages, 1141 KiB  
Article
The Influence of Non-Optimal Rearing Conditions and Substrates on the Performance of the Black Soldier Fly (Hermetia illucens)
by Nuno Ribeiro, Rui Costa and Olga M. C. C. Ameixa
Insects 2022, 13(7), 639; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/insects13070639 - 16 Jul 2022
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 3467
Abstract
Among the insect species reared as alternative protein sources, Hermetia illucens (black soldier Fly, BSF) has shown a huge potential mostly due to its high protein content, its bioconversion rates, and versatility in using different feeding substrates. Insect rearing may use continuous or [...] Read more.
Among the insect species reared as alternative protein sources, Hermetia illucens (black soldier Fly, BSF) has shown a huge potential mostly due to its high protein content, its bioconversion rates, and versatility in using different feeding substrates. Insect rearing may use continuous or batch feeding regimes and, among the used substrates, supermarket feedstock waste has gained recent interest under a circular economy perspective, but several uncertainties remain regarding the heterogeneity and the potential effects of the quantity and quality of these substrates on BSF larvae (BSFL) development. In this experimental work, five replicates of a hundred BSFL were fed in a continuous feeding regime, using seven different isolated vegetables as substrates (wheat bran, pumpkin, apple, grape pomace, red onion, red cabbage, and spinach), at three different temperatures (20, 25, and 30 °C) and two substrate moisture conditions (natural and 70% substrate moisture), until 50% of the larvae achieved the prepupal stage. BSFL performance and bioconversion parameters were evaluated. Our results show that some substrates should be avoided when rearing Hermetia illucens on feedstocks. Among these, apple feed led to poorer and slower development performances with more than 100 days of larval stage, while grape pomace and spinach showed higher mortality rates, which may be due to some anti-nutritional compounds. Larvae fed on pumpkin, red cabbage, and red onion presented good bioconversion results with higher values of efficiency of conversion of digested feed between 14.4 and 25. This work delivers relevant results for black soldier fly reared on a continuous feeding system using vegetable feedstock substrates and their potential trade-offs. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in Black Soldier Fly Research)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

9 pages, 241 KiB  
Article
Effect of Dietary Meat Content on Weight Gain, Mortality, and Pre-Pupal Rate in Black Soldier Fly (Hermetia illucens) Larvae
by Kiyonori Kawasaki, Mami Ohkawa, Junliang Zhao and Kiminobu Yano
Insects 2022, 13(3), 229; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/insects13030229 - 25 Feb 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1752
Abstract
This study aimed to determine the protein content and the ratio of meat that can be added to the diet of black soldier fly (BSF) larvae for the sustainable recycling of food waste using insects. We conducted experiments feeding refined diets to BSF [...] Read more.
This study aimed to determine the protein content and the ratio of meat that can be added to the diet of black soldier fly (BSF) larvae for the sustainable recycling of food waste using insects. We conducted experiments feeding refined diets to BSF larvae with adjusted protein content and diets with minced pork, and analyzed the correlations between dietary nutrients and larval weight gain, mortality, and pre-pupal rate. The nutrient that was positively correlated with increased larval body weight and pre-pupal rate in both experiments was nitrogen-free extract (NFE). Diets with high concentrations of minced pork showed higher mortality of BSF larvae and were negatively correlated with dietary NFE content. It has been suggested that BSF larvae have reduced body weight and survival due to excessive protein and fat in their diet. Depending on the raw material and ratio of food waste, it may be necessary to adjust dietary protein and fat contents before treatment. The results of this study suggest that the NFE content of a larval diet influences the larval weight gain, mortality, and pre-pupal rate of BSF larvae in a great extent, a finding that has not been reported by previous studies. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in Black Soldier Fly Research)
Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:
 
Displaying articles 1-5
Back to TopTop