Isolated and identified pathogenic bacteria from black soldier fly larvae with "soft rot" reared in mass production facilities and its incidence characteristics.

The black soldier fly larvae (BSFL) can transform organic waste into high-end proteins, lipids, chitin, biodiesel, and melanin at an industrial scale. But scaling up of its production capacity has also posed health risks to the insect itself. In this investigation, larval "soft rot" which is occurring in mass production facilities that cause larval developmental inhibition and a certain degree of death was reported. Responsible pathogen GX6 was isolated from BSFL with "soft rot" and identified to be Paenibacillus thiaminolyticus. No obvious impact on larval growth was observed when treated with GX6 spores, whereas mortality of 6-day-old BSFL increased up to 29.33% ± 2.05% when GX6 vegetative cells (1 × 106 cfu/g) were inoculated into the medium. Moreover, higher temperature further enhanced the BSFL mortality and suppressed larval development, but increasing substrate moisture showed the opposite effect. The middle intestine of infected larvae became swollen and transparent after dissection and examination. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) observation indicated that GX6 had destroyed the peritrophic matrix and intestinal microvilli and damaged epithelial cells of larval gut. Furthermore, 16S rRNA gene sequencing analysis of intestinal samples revealed that gut microflora composition was significantly altered by GX6 infection as well. It can be noticed that Dysgonomonas, Morganella, Myroides, and Providencia bacteria became more numerous in the intestines of GX6-infected BSFL as compared to controls. This study will lay foundations for efficient control of "soft rot" and promote healthy development of the BSFL industry to contribute to organic waste management and circular economy.

Management of chicken manure using black soldier fly (Diptera: Stratiomyidae) larvae assisted by companion bacteria.

Black soldier fly (BSF) is used for the management of organic waste, but research has hardly explored the effect of companion bacteria when chicken manure (CHM) is converted to insect biomass. In this study, we isolated nine bacterial species (FE01, FE02, FE03, FE04, FE05, FE06, FE07, FE08, FE09) from BSF eggs and one (BSF-CL) from the larval gut. These companion bacteria were inoculated into CHM along with BSF larvae (BSFL). Larval growth and manure conversion rates were determined. Results indicated that almost all bacteria individual bacteria in this study significantly promote BSFL growth. BSFL reared in manure with the species Kocuria marina (FE01), Lysinibacillus boronitolerans (FE04), Proteus mirabilis (FE08) and Bacillus subtilis (BSF-CL) had higher weight gain and manure reduction rates compared to the control. These four strains used were then examined as a poly-bacteria community experiment to determine BSFL growth and manure conversion. Manure inoculated with the poly-bacteria Group3 (FE01:FE04:FE08:BSF-CL = 4:1:1:1) and then fed to BSFL resulted in 28.6% more weight gain than the control. The greatest manure reduction rate (52.91%) was reached when companion bacteria were mixed at a ratio of 1:1:1:4. Additionally, the companion bacteria influenced the nutritional value of BSFL. Crude protein content in Group1 (FE01:FE04:FE08:BSF-CL = 1:1:1:1) was significantly larger than that of the control. Crude fat content in Group3 was significantly larger than that of the control. BSFL companion bacteria and their poly-bacteria compound improved manure conversion efficiency and nutrient accumulation in BSFL, reduced CHM quantity, increased larvae biomass, with potential economic gains in CHM management.

Development, characterization and evaluation of in-vitro anti-inflammatory activity of ginger extract based micro emulsion.

Zingeber officinale is a commonly used plant which has been shown to possess anti-inflammatory activity. The active compounds present in ginger are gingerols, shagaols and paradol. The aim of this study was formulation of topical microemulsion system to enhance the solubility and stability of ginger extract, as it is unstable in the presence of light, air, heat and long term storage, and to evaluate its anti-inflammatory activity. The solubility of ginger extract in different oils, surfactants, and co-surfactants was determined in order to find the optimal components for microemulsion. IPM was selected as oil phase, tween 80 and PEG 400 were selected as surfactant and co-surfactant respectively based on highest solubility values. Pseudo-ternary phase diagram was constructed in order to find out the microemulsion region. The prepared microemulsions were evaluated for pH, viscosity, conductivity, refractive index, globular size, zeta potential, polydispersity index, ginger extract content. The formulation F1 showed best physicochemical properties with smallest globular size. It also showed significant (p<0.05) anti-inflammatory effect as compared to reference piroxicam drug solution. Based on the results, it is concluded that ginger extract can be used to develop stable microemulsion system and promising anti-inflammatory activity.

Influence of Lactobacillus buchneri on soybean curd residue co-conversion by black soldier fly larvae (Hermetia illucens) for food and feedstock production.

Black soldier fly larvae (BSFL), Hermetia illucens (Diptera: Stratiomyidae) can reduce environmental pollution and convert organic wastes into biomass that is rich in protein and fat. The influence of the nutritional characteristics of organic waste on BSFL characteristics relevant for food and feed safety remains poorly understood. To evaluate the conversion of soybean curd residues (SCR) into high-quality animal-derived proteins and fats for human and livestock consumption, this study assessed the co-conversion efficacy, nutrient composition, safety, and anti-nutritional factor concentrations in BSFL after the development on SCR with Lactobacillus buchneri (L3-9). SCR was pretreated with L. buchneri (108 cfu/ml), and then BSFL was employed for conversion. BSFL fed with SCR and L. buchneri had a significantly higher dry mass reduction (55.7 ±â€¯0.9%), bioconversion rate (6.9 ±â€¯0.3%), crude protein content (55.3 ±â€¯0.6%), and fat content (30.0 ±â€¯0.6%) than SCR (49.0 ±â€¯0.7%, 5.0 ±â€¯0.3%, 52.8 ±â€¯0.3%, and 26.1 ±â€¯0.8%, respectively) and artificial feed (43.9 ±â€¯0.8%, 3.9 ±â€¯0.1%, 50.3 ±â€¯0.4%, and 24.3 ±â€¯0.4%, respectively). However, the feed conversion ratio (8.0 ±â€¯0.3), of BSFL fed with SCR and L. buchneri was lower than that of the BSFL fed with SCR (9.8 ±â€¯0.1) and artificial feed (11.1 ±â€¯0.5). In addition, BSFL had satisfactory concentrations of all essential amino acids and fatty acids required for human consumption as recommended by WHO/FAO/UNU. The heavy metals and anti-nutritional factor concentrations were within the safety intake levels for food and feedstock. Therefore, the addition of L. buchneri with BSFL on SCR did not only increase co-conversion performance but also enhanced the nutritional value of BSFL.

Dynamic changes of nutrient composition throughout the entire life cycle of black soldier fly.

Black soldier fly (BSF) larvae, Hermetia illucens L., develops on organic wastes, reducing ecological pollution and converting waste biomass into protein and fat rich insect biomass. BSF can replace increasingly expensive protein sources used in poultry, aquaculture and livestock compound diet formulation, such as fish meal and soybean meal, which holds the potential to alleviate future food and feed insecurity. The fate of nutritional spectra in BSF during its life cycle phases is still poorly understood. This study assessed metabolic changes in nutrition composition of BSF from egg to adult. A rapid increase of crude fat content was observed since the development of 4-14 days of larvae with its maximum level reaching 28.4% in dry mass, whereas the crude protein displayed a continuous decreasing trend in the same development phases with minimum level of 38% at larval phase (12 days) and peak level of 46.2% at early pupa stage. A sharp drop in crude fat was noticed from early prepupae to late pupae (24.2%, 8.2% respectively). However crude protein shows its maximum value being 57.6% at postmortem adult stage with 21.6% fat level. In addition, fatty acids, amino acids, minerals and vitamins composition in different development stages of BSF were presented and compared. Findings from this study could provide podium to food and feed industry for framing a strategy for specific molecular nutritional component intake into the diets of humans, aquaculture and animals. It is also indicated that BSF is a possible insect which can be applied to combating the food scarcity of countries where micronutrient deficiency is prevalent. Moreover it contributes to advance exploring for developmental and metabolic biology of this edible insect.

Hemozoin Enhances Maturation of Murine Bone Marrow Derived Macrophages and Myeloid Dendritic Cells.

BACKGROUND: Falciparum malaria is a severe health burden worldwide. Antigen presenting cells are reported to be affected by erythrocytic stage of the parasite. Malarial hemozoin (HZ), a metabolite of malaria parasite, has adjuvant properties and may play a role in the induction of immune response against the parasite. OBJECTIVE: To determine the immunological impact of hemozoin on the capacity of innate immune cells maturation. METHODS: Plasmodium falciparum (F32 strain) was cultured in O+ blood group up to 18% parasitemia. Natural hemozoin was extracted from infected red blood cells. Murine bone marrow derived macrophages and myeloid dendritic cells were stimulated with 4 µg/mL or 40 µg/mL of synthetic hemozoin (ß-hematin) or natural hemozoin. We assessed the immunomodulatory role of synthetic or natural hemozoinin vitro by flowcytometric analysis. RESULTS: The maturation markers MHC-II, CD80 and CD86 were significantly upregulated (p<0.05) on the surface of murine bone marrow derived macrophages or myeloid dendritic cells. Data confirmed the potential of macrophages or myeloid dendritic cells, through hemozoin activation, to establish an innate immune response against malaria parasites. CONCLUSION: Both synthetic and natural hemozoin are potent inducers of cellular immunity against malaria infection. However, natural hemozoin is a stronger inducer as compared to synthetic hemozoin.