The effectiveness of black soldier fly (BSF) larvae in food waste composting

Black Soldier Fly (BSF) larvae have become an alternative way to treat the organic waste due to the ability to consume a wide range of organic material. This research conducted to study the effectiveness of Hermetia illucens larvae in carbohydrate based, protein based and fruit based food composting. The composting experiment were conducted in 12th days. Two parameters namely the dosage of waste and moisture contents were optimized based on the weight of BSF larvae and waste reduction index (WRI) to determine the optimum composting condition. All samples are done in triplicates. For carbohydrate based, the optimum dosage of waste identified for BSF composting was 15g with the highest final larval weight which is 0.75 g. However, the highest waste reduction index (WRI) was produced by larvae reared in 5g dosage of waste, 7.64. The optimum moisture for composting was 70% with highest larval weight achieved, 0.17 g but larvae reared in 40% moisture had the highest reading on WRI, 4.10. For protein based, the optimum dosage of waste was found to be 20 g which produced the BSF larval weight of 0.58 g and 2.87 ± 0.17 WRI respectively. The optimum moisture condition was found to be 50% which produced the highest WRI of 5.89 and 0.60 g of larval weight. For fruit based, the optimum fruit waste dosage of 15 g which produced the consistent higher BSF larval weight recorded at day-12 which is 0.75 g with WRI of 3.92 ± 0.15 respectively. The optimum moisture for composting was 70% which is 6g of larvae with WRI of 3.34 ± 0.06.