IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jagris/v13y2023i2p452-d1068781.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Effects of Intraspecific Competition and Larval Size on Bioconversion of Apple Pomace Inoculated with Black Soldier Fly

Author

Listed:
  • Finbarr G. Horgan

    (EcoLaVerna Integral Restoration Ecology, Bridestown, Kildinan, T56 P499 County Cork, Ireland
    Escuela de Agronomía, Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias y Forestales, Universidad Católica del Maule, Casilla 7-D, Curicó 3349001, Chile
    Centre for Pesticide Suicide Prevention, University/BHF Centre for Cardiovascular Science, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH16 4TJ, UK)

  • Michael Launders

    (School of Agriculture and Food Science, University College Dublin, D04 V1W8 Dublin, Ireland)

  • Enrique A. Mundaca

    (Escuela de Agronomía, Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias y Forestales, Universidad Católica del Maule, Casilla 7-D, Curicó 3349001, Chile)

  • Eduardo Crisol-Martínez

    (EcoLaVerna Integral Restoration Ecology, Bridestown, Kildinan, T56 P499 County Cork, Ireland
    Escuela de Agronomía, Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias y Forestales, Universidad Católica del Maule, Casilla 7-D, Curicó 3349001, Chile
    COEXPHAL (Association of Vegetable and Fruit Growers of Almeria), Carretera de Ronda 11, 04004 Almeria, Spain)

Abstract

Waste from apple juice and cider industries (pomace) compares poorly against spent grains and other relatively high-nutrient wastes as a substrate for bioconversion by the black soldier fly (BSF: Hermetia illucens ). However, global pomace production exceeds 24 million tonnes annually and novel management approaches are required to reduce waste to landfill. We examined the effects of BSF inoculation densities (intraspecific competition) and larval size categories on cohort weight gains and apple pomace waste reduction. We found that, by increasing larval densities, cohort biomass and bioconversion rates (BRs) increased; however, at very high densities (overcrowding), BRs declined and cohorts lost weight. Furthermore, larger larval size classes accelerated substrate desiccation, possibly because of greater demands for water by older larvae. Larger larvae have slower relative growth rates and BRs compared to smaller size categories and require comparatively less dry weight substrate. Our results suggest that overcrowding on low-nutrient substrates reduces BRs and could exaggerate differences between BSF relative performances in comparative studies, particularly if intraspecific interference competition for space and exploitation competition for water diminish BSF weight returns at the end of the bioconversion cycle. We make a series of recommendations for the use of BSF in pomace waste reduction.

Suggested Citation

  • Finbarr G. Horgan & Michael Launders & Enrique A. Mundaca & Eduardo Crisol-Martínez, 2023. "Effects of Intraspecific Competition and Larval Size on Bioconversion of Apple Pomace Inoculated with Black Soldier Fly," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-15, February.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jagris:v:13:y:2023:i:2:p:452-:d:1068781
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/13/2/452/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/13/2/452/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Antonio Franco & Carmen Scieuzo & Rosanna Salvia & Anna Maria Petrone & Elena Tafi & Antonio Moretta & Eric Schmitt & Patrizia Falabella, 2021. "Lipids from Hermetia illucens , an Innovative and Sustainable Source," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(18), pages 1-23, September.
    2. Laurens Broeckx & Lotte Frooninckx & Laurien Slegers & Siebe Berrens & Isabelle Noyens & Sarah Goossens & Geert Verheyen & Ann Wuyts & Sabine Van Miert, 2021. "Growth of Black Soldier Fly Larvae Reared on Organic Side-Streams," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(23), pages 1-20, November.
    3. Kamil Wilczyński & Zbigniew Kobus & Dariusz Dziki, 2019. "Effect of Press Construction on Yield and Quality of Apple Juice," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(13), pages 1-15, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Siebe Lievens & Giulia Poma & Lotte Frooninckx & Tom Van der Donck & Jin Won Seo & Jeroen De Smet & Adrian Covaci & Mik Van Der Borght, 2022. "Mutual Influence between Polyvinyl Chloride (Micro)Plastics and Black Soldier Fly Larvae ( Hermetia illucens L.)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-14, September.
    2. Kofi Armah Boakye-Yiadom & Alessio Ilari & Daniele Duca, 2022. "Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Life Cycle Assessment on the Black Soldier Fly ( Hermetia illucens L.)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(16), pages 1-29, August.
    3. Yu Gao & Yi-Jin Zhao & Meng-Lei Xu & Shu-Sen Shi, 2021. "Clanis bilineata tsingtauica : A Sustainable Edible Insect Resource," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(22), pages 1-11, November.
    4. Tuti Suryati & Euis Julaeha & Kindi Farabi & Hanies Ambarsari & Ace Tatang Hidayat, 2023. "Lauric Acid from the Black Soldier Fly ( Hermetia illucens ) and Its Potential Applications," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(13), pages 1-28, June.
    5. Finbarr G. Horgan & Dylan Floyd & Enrique A. Mundaca & Eduardo Crisol-Martínez, 2023. "Spent Coffee Grounds Applied as a Top-Dressing or Incorporated into the Soil Can Improve Plant Growth While Reducing Slug Herbivory," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-21, January.
    6. Paweł Sobczak & Rafał Nadulski & Zbigniew Kobus & Kazimierz Zawiślak, 2022. "Technology for Apple Pomace Utilization within a Sustainable Development Policy Framework," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-15, May.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jagris:v:13:y:2023:i:2:p:452-:d:1068781. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.