Bioconversion of desiccated coconut and soybean curd residues for enhanced black soldier fly larvae biomass as a circular bioeconomy approach

• Main Authors: Muin, Hasniyati, Alias, Zazali, Md Nor, Adibi Rahiman, Mohd Taufek, Norhidayah
• Format: Article
• Published: Springer Netherlands 2023
• Subjects: GE Environmental Sciences; Q Science (General)
• Online Access: http://eprints.um.edu.my/39499/

Agro-industrial waste is considered as an agro-industrial by-product that can produce another valuable product and, at the same time, lessen the waste disposal problem. Here, we suggest the usage of black soldier fly larvae (BSFL) as an organism to convert the agro-industrial wastes, particularly the desiccated coconut residue (DCr) and soybean curd residue (SCr), into highly valuable biomass. In this experiment, we observed the bioconversion of BSFL using fermented DCr and SCr at different ratios (DCr:SCr), namely T1 (4:0), T2 (3:1), and T3 (2:2), T4 (1:3), and T5 (0:4). The amount of food given to BSFL was standardized for every treatment during the rearing duration of 20 days. Waste reduction (WR), bioconversion rates, growth rate, feed conversion ratio (FCR), and nutrient content of the BSFL fed with different treatments were analyzed. The larvae fed with T5 shows significant higher growth rate and waste reduction, which was 15.78 g day(-1) and 80.05%, followed by T4 (15.05 g day(-1) and 77.36%), T2 (14.98 g day(-1) and 69.95%), T3 (14.88 g day(-1) and 62.65%), and T1 (13.37 g day(-1) and 57.76%) respectively. In addition, larvae fed with T5 also show higher protein content (46.37%) and lower lipid content (46.37%). In all treatments, the higher macronutrient content indicates BSFL frass content's potential as a novel organic fertilizer in agriculture. GRAPHICS] .