Investigating the Influence of Fly Attractant on Food Waste Recovery through Fly Larvae Production

Abstract

The food industry is one of the sectors that produces considerable amounts of solid waste on a daily basis. Handling such waste has been a significant issue of worldwide concern. As a result, research into developing low-cost and effective technology for the recovery of food waste is critical in order to keep pace with the rapidly developing world. This research investigated the potential of maggot production on the recovery of food waste. Four different food waste materials (banana, starch, pineapples, and oranges) were taken into consideration. Additionally, the effect of the fly attractant on the production system’s overall performance was assessed; the fly attractant was a mixture of cattle blood and meat waste. With a correlation index of 0.96 (without fly attractant) and 0.87 (with fly attractant), the number of days before harvesting and the average maggot weight had a very high (positive) correlation. Moreover, it was observed that using a fly attractant increased maggot yield substantially. For instance, the banana materials produced up to 94 g/kg of maggot weight on the eighth day, which is approximately a 32.4% increase from the same material without fly attractant. On the other hand, the trials’ relative dry weight reduction ranged from 52.5% to 82.4%. The results of this study also showed that producing maggots can be a practical method for recovering food waste, particularly when combined with the use of a fly attractant. The residue from the maggot production process can be applied as an organic fertilizer.