Potential Usage of Food Waste as a Natural Fertilizer after Digestion by Hermetia illucens (Diptera: Stratiomyidae)

Abstract

The black soldier fly larvae are able to decompose various organic wastes such as livestock manures and food wastes. We tested whether the quality of the insect derived compost, i.e. larval feces, was comparable to that of a commercial fertilizer. The results show that the chemical composition and the growth rate of cabbages grown on the insect derived compost are virtually identical to those on the commercial fertilizer. Therefore the insect derived compost will be an ideal substitute to commercial fertilizers.