Heavy metal bioaccumulation in prepupae of black soldier fly Hermetia Illucens (Diptera: Stratiomyidae) cultured with organic wastes and chicken feed

Copping out of novel feeds: HOW climate change pledgers and food summits overlooked insect protein

“…Purschke et al [ 61 ] analyzed the larvae of Hermetia illucens for the presence of undesirable substances and reported lower concentration of Cd. This is in line with the findings by Elechi et al [ 62 ] who also observed a low concentration of Cd. However, Bulak et al [ 63 ] indicated that Hermetia illucens larvae is capable of accumulating high levels of Cd.…”

Advances in insects for food and feed

“…The authors attributed the accumulation of these heavy metals to anthropogenic pollution and recommended that strict measures be put in place to stop the environmental pollution. Elechi et al (2021) assessed the bioaccumulation of heavy metals (cadmium, chromium, copper, lead and zinc) in prepupae of black soldier fly (BSF) that were cultured on chicken mash and various types of organic wastes (food waste, brewery waste, and fruit waste). The study showed that bioaccumulation was more likely to occur in brewery waste than in the other substrates, while bioaccumulation was reported for three (copper, lead and chromium) of the five heavy metals.…”

Bioconversion of hazardous organic wastes using invertebrates

“…3) (Bohm et al, 2022). The inverse relationship between metal accumulation and bioaccumulation factor suggests any detoxifying mechanism for heavy metals such as molting (Elechi et al, 2021). This physiological response makes the bioconversion of metal-polluted substrates, a priori, a suitable option to manage hazardous feedstocks while obtaining a safe source of protein (larva).…”