Exclusão da dieta inicial durante o desenvolvimento de Hermetia illucens L. (Diptera: Stratiomyidae) em resíduos de comida de restaurante altera a composição bromatológica e melhora o desempenho produtivo larval

It is estimated that the world population will reach 9 billion in 2050 and therefore, the demand for food will grow simultaneously. The black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens) (Diptera: Stratiomyidae) (BSF) presents itself as a promising, sustainable and viable alternative for the production of animal protein, and has received great attention in science and industry due to its high capacity for bioconversion of organic matter. In addition, its production requires few water and energy resources and does not depend on arable land. To evaluate the effect of time on initial diet (ID) of black soldier fly larvae transferred to restaurant waste on larval performance and organic waste reduction, an experiment was carried out in a completely randomized design with treatments 0, 6, 8, 10 and 12 days in ID (chicken feed) before transferring the larvae to restaurant waste. Linear and quadratic regression analyzes and contrasts between means were performed using the SAS software (2014) considering a 5% significance level. The contrasts between larvae reared without ID and larvae reared with ID were not significant for the characteristics final larval weight, number of live larvae and larval growth rate, indicating no need for ID. There was also greater larval growth, lower frass weight and greater residue reduction when not using ID. The contrast for the nutritional characteristics, crude protein and mineral matter, dry matter and moisture showed a significant difference (p<0.05). The other profiles, ether extract, crude fiber, calcium, phosphorus, non-nitrogen extract and total digestible nutrients showed no significant differences between the contrasts (p>0.05). There was a linear reduction in the average length and larval growth rate, a linear increase in the frass weight as a function of the increase in time in DI. Residue reduction was negatively impacted by time in ID. The time in ID did not affect the final larval weight and the number of live larvae at the end of the experiment. The dry matter and moisture profiles showed a significant difference (p<0.05) for the linear models. As for the ether extract and calcium, the differences were insignificant (p>0.05). Crude fiber and phosphorus had the highest means in the D12 group, the non-nitrogenous extractive in D6. The results found indicate that ID did not confer an advantage for most nutritional and performance characteristics and, therefore, it may not be necessary to create BSF in restaurant food waste. The possibility that BSF rearing does not require ID on other, nutrient-rich wastes should be investigated.