Utilization of Hermetia illucens Larvae as A Bioconversion Agent to Reduce Organic Waste

The larvae of Hermetia illucens, known as Black Soldier Fly (BSF), are utilized to reduce various types of organic waste by means of bioconversion. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficiency of the larvae in reducing and converting mixtures of fresh food waste (FW) with other organic waste types, i.e., immature windrow composting material (IW), residue windrow composting material (RW), and fresh cow manure (CM) at three different composition ratios. The growth rate and protein content of the larvae were also determined in this study. A specific amount of organic waste mixtures was fed to the BSF larvae. The results suggest that the type of organic waste given to larvae affected the overall waste reduction and larval growth at a certain extent. The composition ratio of FW with the other wastes used was 90:10, 70:30, and 60:40 (w/w). The highest reduction percentage was at the ratio of 90:10 achieved for FW mixed with IW, FW mixed with RW, and FW mixed with CM, i.e. 82.2%, 79%, and 74.5% respectively. The protein content of larvae in those waste mixtures was 54.6%, 63.1%, and 48.75% respectively. The final residue from the decomposition of the waste by BSF larvae was also observed in this study.