Shotgun Announcement: Black Soldier Fly as Feed for Quail and Swine, BSF Digestion of Cellulose, and Continued Expansion of Research Globally

Lots of papers have recently come out on BSF.... here are the highlights (Think David Letterman top ten list but not 10 items... just 5 items).

1. BSF at 10% inclusion can be used as quail feed!! Yes- it works. :)  Could be something of interest to the quail industry in the southern USA where quail (if same species) are produced in colony.

Hermetia illucens larvae reared on different substrates in broiler quail diets: effect on apparent digestibility, feed-choice and growth performance

2. BSF at 10% inclusion can be used as swine feed!! Supports previous research published on this topic many decades ago.

Partially defatted black soldier fly larva meal inclusion in piglet diets: effects on the growth performance, nutrient digestibility, blood profile, gut morphology and histological features

3. Here is another paper discussing the ability of BSF to digest cellulose (which is huge- but needs more work to determine efficiency and how to optimize the process).

Rehman, K. u., R. Ur Rehman, A. A. Somroo, M. Cai, L. Zheng, X. Xiao, A. Ur Rehman, A. Rehman, J. K. Tomberlin, Z. Yu, and J. Zhang. 2019. Enhanced bioconversion of dairy and chicken manure by the interaction of exogenous bacteria and black soldier fly larvae. J Environ Manage 237: 75-83.
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​4. BSF can be used to digestion food waste in Ghana. Something to keep in mind- when dealing with "food waste", it would be good to be as quantitative as possible with regards to defining the food waste- what is it? What is its composition?

​Development of Black Soldier Fly, Hermetia illucens (Diptera: Stratiomyidae) in Selected Organic Market Waste Fractions in Accra, Ghana

5. Not BSF-related but pretty cool study on composting  aquaculture waste- I thought you might find it interesting.

Composting as a strategy to recycle aquatic animal waste: Case study of a research centre in São Paulo State, Brazil

Author

Jeffery K. Tomberlin, PhD, Presenter of cornucopia of research topics
CEO, EVO Conversion Systems, LLC
Twitter: @FliesFacility