Nutritional composition of black soldier fly ( Hermetia illucens ) prepupae reared on different organic waste substrates

Abstract BACKGROUND Black soldier fly larvae are converters of organic waste into edible biomass, of which the composition may depend on the substrate. In this study, larvae were grown on four substrates: chicken feed, vegetable waste, biogas digestate, and restaurant waste. Samples of prepupae and substrates were freeze‐dried and proximate, amino acid, fatty acid and mineral analyses were performed. RESULTS Protein content of prepupae varied between 399 and 431 g kg −1 dry matter ( DM ) among treatments. Differences in amino acid profile of prepupae were small. On the other hand, the ether extract ( EE ) and ash contents differed substantially. Prepupae reared on digestate were low in EE and high in ash (218…