Food futurists accept that sustainability-minded humanity will increasingly incorporate insects as alternative protein. The most studied and easily reared species are not necessarily the most sustainable, acceptable, or delicious. Here, we review the literature on the black soldier fly, Hermetia illucens, which is capable of efficiently converting a wide variety of organic materials, from food waste to manure, into insect biomass. They can be grown and harvested without dedicated facilities and are not pestiferous. Their larvae are 42% crude protein and 29% fat, although they are higher in saturated fats than most insects. They do not concentrate pesticides or mycotoxins. They are already grown and recommended for use as animal feed, but with regional legal restrictions on how this is done. For commercial use in human foods, larvae could potentially be milled and converted into a textured protein with a strong flavor. Their biggest advantage over other insects is their ability to convert waste into food, generating value and closing nutrient loops as they reduce pollution and costs. This general advantage is also their greatest disadvantage, for the social stigmas and legal prohibitions against eating organisms that eat waste are added to extant taboos facing insect consumption.

Review of Black Soldier Fly (Hermetia illucens) as Animal Feed and Human Food

https://www.dora.lib4ri.ch/eawag/islandora/object/eawag%3A17827/datastream/PDF/Lalander-2019-Effects_of_feedstock_on_larval-%28published_version%29.pdf

Effects of feedstock on larval development and process efficiency in waste treatment with black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens)

Wastes can be used as rearing substrate by black soldier fly (BSF) larvae, the latter being exploitable as a protein source in animal feed. This research aimed to assess the influence of four rearing substrates (Trial 1 (organic wastes): a mixture of vegetable and fruit (VEGFRU) vs. a mixture of fruits only (FRU); Trial 2 (agro-industrial by-products): brewery (BRE) vs. winery (WIN) by-products) on BSF larvae development, waste reduction efficiency and nutritional composition.; Results: If respectively compared to FRU and WIN, VEGFRU and BRE larvae needed less time to reach the prepupal stage (22.0, 22.2, 20.2 and 8.0 days of trial, respectively) and had higher protein content (229.7, 257.3, 312.9 and 395.7 g kg-1 dry matter). The waste reduction index ranged from 2.4 (WIN) to 5.3 g d-1 (BRE). BRE larvae showed the lowest saturated and the highest polyunsaturated fatty acid proportions (612.4 and 260.1 g kg-1 total fatty acids, respectively).; Conclusion: Vegetable and fruit wastes and winery by-products can be used as rearing substrates for BSF larval mass production. Brewery by-products led to very promising larval performance and nutritional composition. However, given BRE limited availability, low BRE dietary inclusion levels could be used with the purpose of increasing larval performance. © 2018 Society of Chemical Industry.; © 2018 Society of Chemical Industry.

Effect of rearing substrate on growth performance, waste reduction efficiency and chemical composition of black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens) larvae.

https://www.dora.lib4ri.ch/eawag/islandora/object/eawag%3A17940/datastream/PDF/Gold-2018-Decomposition_of_biowaste_macronutrients%2C_microbes%2C-%28published_version%29.pdf

Decomposition of biowaste macronutrients, microbes, and chemicals in black soldier fly larval treatment: A review.

The study aimed to determine the apparent total tract digestibility coefficients (ATTDC) of nutrients, the apparent metabolizable energy (AME and AMEn) and the amino acid (AA) apparent ileal digestibility coefficients (AIDC) of a partially defatted (BSFp) and a highly defatted (BSFh) black soldier fly larvae meal. The experimental diets were: a basal diet and two diets prepared by substituting 250 g/kg (w/w) of the basal diet with BSFp or BSFh, respectively. Significant differences were found between BSFp and BSFh meals for ATTDC of the nutrients: BSFp resulted more digestible than BSFh, except for ATTDC of CP which did not differed between meals, while a statistical trend was observed for ATTDC of DM and EE. The AME and AMEn values were significantly (P < 0.05) different between the two BSF meals, with higher levels for BSFp (16.25 and 14.87 MJ/kg DM, respectively). The AIDC of the AA in BSFp ranged from 0.44 to 0.92, while in BSFh they ranged from 0.45 to 0.99. No significant differences were observed for the AA digestibility (0.77 and 0.80 for BSFp and BSFh, respectively), except for glutamic acid, proline and serine that were more digestible in the BSFh meal (P < 0.05). Defatted BSF meals can be considered as an excellent source of AME and digestible AA for broilers with a better efficient nutrient digestion. These considerations suggested the effective utilization of defatted BSF larvae meal in poultry feed formulation.

/pdf/nutritional-value-of-a-partially-defatted-and-a-highly-22drch345t.pdf

Nutritional value of a partially defatted and a highly defatted black soldier fly larvae (Hermetia illucens L.) meal for broiler chickens: apparent nutrient digestibility, apparent metabolizable energy and apparent ileal amino acid digestibility

BACKGROUND
Black soldier fly larvae are converters of organic waste into edible biomass, of which the composition may depend on the substrate. In this study, larvae were grown on four substrates: chicken feed, vegetable waste, biogas digestate, and restaurant waste. Samples of prepupae and substrates were freeze-dried and proximate, amino acid, fatty acid and mineral analyses were performed.

RESULTS
Protein content of prepupae varied between 399 and 431 g kg−1 dry matter (DM) among treatments. Differences in amino acid profile of prepupae were small. On the other hand, the ether extract (EE) and ash contents differed substantially. Prepupae reared on digestate were low in EE and high in ash (218 and 197 g kg−1 DM, respectively) compared to those reared on vegetable waste (371 and 96 g kg−1 DM, respectively), chicken feed (336 and 100 g kg−1 DM, respectively) and restaurant waste (386 and 27 g kg−1 DM, respectively). Prepupal fatty acid profiles were characterised by high levels of C12:0 in all treatments.

CONCLUSION
Since protein content and quality were high and comparable for prepupae reared on different substrates, black soldier fly could be an interesting protein source for animal feeds. However, differences in EE and ash content as a function of substrate should be considered. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry

Stefaan Deboosere

Papers

Nutritional composition of black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens) prepupae reared on different organic waste substrates