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Gut microbiome of black soldier fly larvae for efficient use and purification of organic waste: An environmentally friendly development concept
Summary
This review examines how black soldier fly larvae and their gut bacteria can break down organic waste, including microplastics, heavy metals, and antibiotics. The larvae's gut microbiome plays a key role in degrading these harmful substances while converting waste into useful protein and fertilizer. This biological approach could help reduce the amount of microplastic-contaminated waste that enters the environment and food chain.
The growing global population and increasing human demands have led to a rise in organic waste volumes. These wastes contain potential risk substances like pathogenic bacteria (PB), antibiotics (ABs), heavy metals (HMs), and microplastics (MPs), which can threaten public health through direct contact or food chain transmission. Black soldier fly larvae (BSFL) have emerged as a promising solution for organic waste management and crop-livestock integration. They efficiently reduce organic matter, produce high-quality proteins and fats, generate green biofertilizers, and mitigate harmful substances and greenhouse gas emissions. However, the specific mechanisms by which BSFL transform organic matter, produce organic fertilizers, and reduce harmful substances remain unclear, significantly limiting the further development and application of BSFL bioconversion technology. In recent years, numerous studies have revealed that BSFL gut microbiota possess functions such as promoting the degradation of substrate nutrients, regulating host nutrient synthesis and metabolism, directly or indirectly inhibiting the proliferation of PB, biodegrading or cometabolizing ABs, mitigating the mobility of HMs, and biodegrading MPs. Therefore, exploring and developing BSFL gut microbiota could be of great significance for optimizing the efficiency of BSFL in organic waste transformation, effectively reducing potential risk substances in organic waste, and promoting their wide applications in biomedicine and energy sectors. This review systematically summarizes the composition, function, and environmental impacts of BSFL gut microbiota, focusing on their roles in organic waste transformation and reducing PB, ABs, HMs, and MPs. We believe that in-depth exploration in this field will significantly advance the application of BSFL in integrated crop-livestock systems, which is essential for achieving humanity's sustainable development goals.
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