Bioconversion of mixed wastes food kitchen waste and soybean residue into biodiesel by black soldier fly larvae (Hermetia illucens L.).

Insect larvae have been perceived as a potential feedstock for biodiesel production due to the feasibility to biodegrade organic wastes, absorb the nutrient, and stored lipid in the bodies as biomass. However, the research on biodiesel production using insect larvae has been lack of study. Therefore, the ultimate aim of this study was to employ Black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens) larvae for biodiesel production. In this study, Black soldier fly larvae (BSFL) were reared in mix wastes for 20 days. The extracted BSF larval lipid was undergone a two-step transesterification process to yield biodiesel. Then, the properties of BSF larval lipid, biodiesel and fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) composition were analysed accordingly. It was found that about 90.25% of biodiesel was produced from the transesterification of BSF larval lipid. In addition, the FAME composition of BSF larval lipid biodiesel comprised 82.25% of saturated (lauric acid, myristic acid, palmitic acid, capric acid, and stearic acid) and 17.75% of unsaturated (oleic acid, palmitoleic acid, gondoic acid, and linoleic acid) FAME. The produced BSF larval biodiesel met the value recommended by American Society for test and the Materials (ASTM) D6751 and European (EN) 14214 standards. Overall, the finding from this study affirmed the potential to produce eco-friendly biodiesel derived BSFL reared on mix wastes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]