Fly larvae eating seafood shells make clean protein, mineral-rich poop
Upadhyaya S, Hayes M, Vail V, Tweedy D, Neff E
Composting
If you've ever topped your tomato beds with fish meal or crab shell meal for calcium, this points to a cleaner way to get that same mineral boost without worrying about heavy metal buildup in what you grow.
Researchers fed Black Soldier Fly larvae a diet mixed with ground-up shrimp and crab shells, something that would otherwise go to a landfill. The larvae themselves stayed low in minerals and metals, making them a safe protein source, while their leftover waste (frass) soaked up calcium, manganese, zinc, iron, and other elements instead. That frass could become a nutrient-rich soil additive, turning seafood trash into two useful products at once.
Key Findings
Shell waste (25-60% of feed) was fed to Black Soldier Fly larvae for 8 days and elements were tracked in feed, larvae, and frass using ICP-OES
Calcium enrichment in frass reached up to 12.15%, far exceeding accumulation in larvae
Aluminium, iron, boron, and barium were largely excluded from larval biomass and instead concentrated in frass; manganese and zinc shifted from larval uptake to frass enrichment as shell inclusion increased
chevron_right Technical Summary
Scientists fed shrimp and crab shell waste to Black Soldier Fly larvae and found the larvae stayed low in metals while the leftover larval poop (frass) absorbed most of the minerals, pointing to a way to turn seafood waste into both safe animal feed and a mineral-rich soil amendment.
Abstract Preview
Original paper
Element partitioning of minerals and trace metals in value-added product from insect-mediated valorisation of seafood waste.
Seafood processing generates substantial volumes of shell byproducts that are often underutilized or landfilled, resulting in massive economic and environmental costs. In many coastal regions, limi...
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