Abstract
As a consequence of increasing the production of plastics which accumulate substantial
quantities of plastic wastes in the natural environment and in landfills that could persist
for centuries. The ability of confused flour beetle Tribolium confusum larvae to
consume and biodegrade different types of plastics were investigated. The experiment
was performed by starving the larvae then exposed to three different types of plastic
(polystyrene (PS), polyethylene foam (PE), and ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA) as diet in
comparison to larvae reared on the conventional diet of wheat flour. The larvae were
monitored under controlled conditions then the survival rate, the mass losses for both
larvae and plastics resulting from the diet on plastic as a function of time (1, 14, 21 and
30 days) were measured. The results showed that with the increase of time; the averages
of larvae survival on all types of plastic were decreased compared with control. The
highest larval survival rate was found in the PS diet (70%), while the least was with
larvae fed on EVA (30%) after 30 days. Decreasing in the mass weight of the larvae
was confirmed during the study, which indicates that plastic materials are not an
efficient source of energy for larvae except their survival. The mass loss was 26.2, 31.4
and 45.8 % recorded for larvae fed on PS, PE, and EVA respectively. The study
recorded that T. confusum has the ability to degradation plastic, which can reduce the
pollution caused by different types of plastic wastes.
Hind Suhail Abdulhay. (2020) Biodegradation of plastic wastes by confused flour beetle Tribolium confusum Jacquelin du Val larvae, Asian Journal of Agriculture and Biology, Volume 8, Issue 2.
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