Efficiency of Rhynchophorus palmarum (“suri”) larvae in biodegrading sugarcane bagasse
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.51252/reacae.v5i2.1465Keywords:
peruvian Amazon, biodegradation, weevils, ecosystems, waste managementAbstract
Sugarcane bagasse is an abundant waste product, and its accumulation poses environmental and health risks, making it necessary to explore sustainable and low-cost treatments. The objective was to determine the efficiency of Rhynchophorus palmarum larvae in degrading sugarcane bagasse. An experiment was conducted with a control (T0) and three treatments, T1, T2, and T3, containing 20, 40, and 60 larvae per 500 g and evaluated at 42 days; the percentage of degradation was calculated by mass loss and the effects were analyzed (Kruskal Wallis and Dunn's post hoc). Environmental conditions were homogeneous in all treatments. The average degradation was 3.20% (T0), 42.60% (T1), 54.73% (T2), and 57.67% (T3). the Kruskal–Wallis test indicated significant differences (H=7.82; p=0.049), and Dunn showed that T2 and T3 outperformed the control (T0–T2 p=0.031; T0–T3 p=0.009), with no differences between T1–T2–T3. Mortality was high (68.42% in T1; 67.83% in T2; 72.35% in T3), so T2 (40 larvae/500 g) showed the best conditions in terms of efficiency and survival. Finally, it is concluded that biodegradation with R. palmarum is feasible as a pretreatment for bagasse.
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