Research shows increased black soldier fly body weight through artificial selection

In 2019, Protix started a genetic improvement program in collaboration with Hendrix Genetics, with the aim to increase body weight in black soldier fly larvae to improve the efficiency of production and meet the rising demands for proteins in the feed and food industries. The results of this program were published in 2023 in the journal Frontiers in Genetics.

The scientific article presents the outcomes of the breeding program after 10, 13, and 16 generations of selection. The performance of the selected body weight line was compared to the base population line over six experimental rounds under different environmental conditions.

Under automated production settings, an average increase of +39% in larval weight, +34% in wet crate yield, +26% in dry matter crate yield, +32% in crude protein per crate, and +21% crude fat per crate was achieved in the selected line compared to the base population line.

This research demonstrates the potential contribution of artificial selection to improve efficiency when farming black soldier flies in industrial settings. Further research is needed to fully unlock that potential.