Impacts of black soldier fly, (Diptera: Stratiomyidae) larval frass on tomato production

Abstract

The “insects as food and feed” movement is gaining considerable momentum as a novel means to provide protein to people (i.e., food) and other animals (i.e., feed). Insects require significantly fewer resources, such as water and land, to produce, process, and distribute as a food or feed source. While the production of insect biomass has received considerable attention for use as food or feed, little is known about the value of the residual materials remaining after digestion. One insect, the black soldier fly, Hermetia illucens (L.) (Diptera: Stratiomyidae), can generate large quantities of residual (i.e., frass) that is high in nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. These materials could serve as a partial replacement for fertilizer or peat, thus creating added value to the insects as food and feed sector. Greenhouse studies were designed to investigate the use of frass in vegetable production. In pot studies with tomatoes, different ratios of peat:vermicompost and peat:insect frass were compared to a 100% peat control. Across all other parameters, tomato fruits and vegetative biomass did not produce significant differences across treatments, indicating results were comparable to the control (i.e., 100% peat). Thus, replacing peat with black soldier fly frass is a viable option and could allow for the peat industry to become more sustainable and regenerative. However, it should be noted that average individual tomato fruit weight was significantly (P < 0.05) higher (by 19%) in the vermicompost 10% treatment compared to the control, which did not differ from treatments including black soldier fly frass.

Impacts of black soldier fly, Hermetia illucens, larval frass on lettuce and arugula production

“…Higher fresh arugula and lettuce yields were produced in all the BSFL treatments compared to the VC treatments and control. A previous study observed the impacts of BSFL frass on tomato production utilizing the same methodology and treatments (Chavez et al, 2023). Total yields, greenness, dissolved solids, and vegetative biomass produced comparable results to the 100% peat control and the VC treatments, also indicating that BSFL frass is a neutral addition to a greenhouse potting media.…”

“…Dried leaves were removed from the oven after 1 week and dry weights recorded. Similar This design applied to arugula and lettuce: vermicompost (VC) and black solider fly larvae (BSFL) frass (Chavez et al, 2023). 10.3389/fsufs.2024.1399932…”

“…Several studies investigated the use of insect frass for application in horticultural production. Chavez et al (2023) compared BSFL frass to vermicompost (VC) in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum, L., Solanaceae) production. In most treatments, BSFL frass produced comparable results in tomato fruit yield, quality, plant biomass, and greenness to the control.…”

“…This is especially interesting for growers, considering several studies have observed significant increases in vegetable yields with VC application (with inorganic fertilizers) (Atiyeh et al, 2001;Arancon et al, 2003;Alam et al, 2007;Gutiérrez-Miceli et al, 2007;Ansari, 2008;Nongmaithem and Pal, 2011;Narayan et al, 2013;Yourtchi et al, 2013). The use of frass as a horticultural soil amendment can provide application for a growing (potentially local) waste stream in combination with inorganic fertilizers (Chavez et al, 2023). It can provide growers access to a beneficial amendment that is more affordable than VC, while also decreasing peat consumption (Chavez and Uchanski, 2021).…”

Effect of feeding back soldier fly larvae meal on immune response and serum biochemistry profile in broilers

“…The amount of space required to grow insects is very minimal when compared to other conventional sources of protein. Insects convert waste into protein and reduce total nitrogen excretion, odours and methane emission, thus reduce up to 80% of waste mass (Chavez et al, 2023) [3] . Some of the common insect species used in poultry feed are: 1.…”