Munching Maggots Help Singapore Startup Secure Lucrative Biomaterial

From

19 March 2021 18:01 WIB

Alwin Fong, 31, operations manager at Insectta, harvests eggs of the black soldier flies in Singapore March 3, 2021. In a quiet, mainly residential district of Singapore, trays of writhing black soldier fly larvae munch their way through hundreds of kilograms of food waste a day. REUTERS/Caroline Chia

19 Maret 2021 00:00 WIB

Black soldier flies (Hermetia Illucens) are seen in the mating chamber of Insectta, Singapore's first urban insect farm, in Singapore March 3, 2021. The protein-rich maggots can be sold for pet food or fertiliser, but at Insectta - a startup that says it is Singapore's first urban insect farm - they are bred to extract biomaterials that can be used in pharmaceuticals and electronics. REUTERS/Caroline Chia

19 Maret 2021 00:00 WIB

Eggs from the black soldier flies are seen harvested by gently scraping them off pieces of wood in Insectta, the first urban insect farm in Singapore March 3, 2021. Black soldier flies are renowned for their ability to consume any kind of food waste and their speed and efficiency at transforming that waste into body mass, Chua said. REUTERS/Caroline Chia

19 Maret 2021 00:00 WIB

Plastic beads are seen placed in trays containing larvae that are ready to pupate in the mating chamber of Insectta, the first urban insect farm in Singapore March 3, 2021. Insectta's technology uses a proprietary and environmentally friendly process to extract lucrative substances such as chitosan, melanin and probiotics from the larvae, it said. REUTERS/Caroline Chia

19 Maret 2021 00:00 WIB

Alwin Fong, 31, operations manager at Insectta, attends to the black soldier flies' mating chamber in Singapore March 3, 2021. REUTERS/Caroline Chia

19 Maret 2021 00:00 WIB

Phua Jun Wei, 31, chief technology officer and co-founder of Insectta, shows Reuters a tube of melanin solution during a laboratory demonstration in Singapore March 3, 2021. REUTERS/Caroline Chia

19 Maret 2021 00:00 WIB