Organic side streams (bioproducts) as substrate for black soldier fly (

Abstract

The growing world population accompanied by urbanisation and improved economies has resulted in an increased demand for diets rich in animal proteins. The rearing of livestock by existing practices is also becoming increasingly difficult due to changing environmental conditions. The use of black soldier fly larvae (BSFL) grown on organic side streams (bioproducts) as feed for animals presents a sustainable alternative to conventional feed ingredients. The nutritional and compositional profile of BSFL reared on organic side streams and their potential to be used as animal feed has been extensively explored. However, little information is available on the chemical safety of BSFL reared on organic side streams. This review addresses the chemical safety hazards of BSFL reared on substrates spiked with different chemical contaminants, including heavy metals, mycotoxins, pesticides, and pharmaceuticals. BSFL were observed to excrete mycotoxins and were able to reduce the concentration of pesticides and pharmaceutical compounds in the substrate. Certain heavy metals were found to be accumulated in BSFL when grown on spiked substrate. Initial studies have also indicated that the growth parameters and composition of BSFL are not altered by the presence of microplastics and organic pollutants in the substrate. Information about these feed-safety issues will assist in developing regulatory frameworks and appropriate processing methods to mitigate these hazards, thereby providing a framework of risks for the commercialisation of BSFL destined for animal feed.

Black soldier fly larvae (Hermetica illucens) as a sustainable source of nutritive and bioactive compounds, and their consumption challenges

“…However, to safely utilise these substrates, it is imperative to establish quality-assurance measures (EFSA 2015;FAO 2021). The utilisation of excreta, processed waste containing animal matter, and various other organic side streams as feed for BSFL rearing is prohibited in some countries, such as USA, Canada, and those within the European Union (EU) (Alagappan et al 2022). Regulations regarding the use of BSFL as animal feed state that, by default, insects cannot be directly employed as feed for other farmed animals (Żuk-Gołaszewska et al 2022).…”

Mitigation Strategies against Food Safety Contaminant Transmission from Black Soldier Fly Larva Bioconversion

“…Among other chemical contaminants, BSFL were found to accumulate mineral oil and some other hydrocarbons but none exceeding legal limits [ 47 ]. In general, BSFL are not considered to accumulate dioxins, polychlorinated biphenyls, or polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and they do not accumulate and, at times, they even degrade many pharmaceuticals and pesticides [ 7 , 49 , 50 , 60 , 61 , 62 , 63 , 64 ]. One study found that substrate contaminated with malathion did affect BSFL negatively, but that study did not assess the impact of BSFL on the malathion levels in the residue or the prepupae [ 65 ].…”

“…Toxicity increased if multiple compounds were in the substrate at the same time, or if synergists like piperonyl butoxide were added. Prior work suggests BSFL have high tolerance to aflatoxins and other mycotoxins and do not bioaccumulate them [ 49 , 51 , 60 , 68 , 69 , 70 ] though some may persist in their gut contents. While some plant toxins, like genotoxic pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PAs) and tropane alkaloids, were degraded from the substrate during BSFL bioconversion, others bioaccumulated in the larvae at varying rates: high for europine, rinderine and echinatine and very low for most other PAs and atropine and scopolamine [ 71 ].…”

Near‐infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) for monitoring the nutritional composition of black soldier fly larvae (BSFL) and frass

“…However, the idea of upscaling and commercialising this product in the feed industry is limited due to several challenges associated with legal and production requirements. 29,30 One of the important challenges in production is to ensure that the BSFL reared on organic side streams are sufficient in nutritional composition to be used as animal feed. 31 The use of conventional methods to determine the nutritional composition can be time consuming and laborious.…”

“…BSFL, overall possess the ability to serve as a sustainable feed source in livestock production. However, the idea of upscaling and commercialising this product in the feed industry is limited due to several challenges associated with legal and production requirements 29,30 . One of the important challenges in production is to ensure that the BSFL reared on organic side streams are sufficient in nutritional composition to be used as animal feed 31 .…”