Title: Composting of food wastes by using black soldier fly larvae

Authors: A. Jamilah; K.A. Irfana; A.J. Nurul Ain; N.M. Nur Aimi; A.B. Noor Ezlin; A. Mohd Reza

Addresses: Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 UKM Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia ' Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 UKM Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia ' Department of Environmental Science, Faculty of Science and Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 UKM Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia ' Department of Environmental Science, Faculty of Science and Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 UKM Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia ' Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 UKM Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia ' Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 UKM Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia

Abstract: Black soldier fly larvae (BSFL), Hermetia illucens, were used in this research as a decomposing agent to treat food wastes. All food wastes were collected from the cafeteria and were segregate into three groups, namely T1 (mixed cooked waste), T2 (cooked vegetable waste), and T3 (uncooked food wastes). The mass and length of the BSFL are recorded, and the protein content of the larvae from each treatment was analysed; results showed that the protein content of BSFL in T1, T2, and T3 are 43.56%, 42.58% and 43.26%, respectively. The waste reduction (WR) index for T1, T2, and T3 are 5.21, 4.23 and 3.15, respectively. WR index is based on substrate concentration, and higher substrate consumption resulted in the higher WR index value. From the WR index results, treatment T1 is the highest substrate concentration followed by T2 and T3. The BSFL in T1 has the highest growth rate, followed by T2 and T3.

Keywords: composting; black soldier fly larvae; BSFL; food waste; protein analysis; growth rate.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEWM.2022.128116

International Journal of Environment and Waste Management, 2022 Vol.30 No.1, pp.55 - 68

Received: 25 Oct 2019
Accepted: 19 Jun 2020
Published online: 06 Jan 2023 *

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