Abstract
The accumulation of cull potato piles is a concern because they take up space and harbor potato-associated pathogens. Black soldier fly, Hermetia illucens, larvae are an increasingly popular agent for converting organic wastes into ingredients for animal feeds. In this investigation, their ability to process cull potato waste was assessed. Potato tubers were suitable for larval development, but only following their disintegration through thermal or mechanical means. Optimal bioconversion was observed when potato substrate was provided at a rate of 1 g per larva. The presence of ground turkey meat and sawdust was generally beneficial to larval development and biomass accumulation. The presence of potato foliage in diet showed no negative effects on larval development and there was no glycoalkaloid bioaccumulation in larval tissues. Evidence from this investigation suggests that culled potato waste may be recycled using black soldier fly larvae.
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Acknowledgements
We thank Patrick Erbland for the technical assistance. This research was funded by the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture, Hatch Project number ME0-32125 through the Maine Agricultural & Forest Experiment Station and by the US National Science Foundation One Health and the Environment (OH&E): Convergence of Social and Biological Sciences NRT program grant DGE-1922560.
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Moyet, M., Alyokhin, A., Buzza, A. et al. Black Soldier Fly Larvae as a Recycling Agent for Cull Potatoes. Am. J. Potato Res. 100, 441–450 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12230-023-09930-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12230-023-09930-6