Biofuel production using lipids from rice moth larvae Corcyra cephalonica Stainton

Abstract

newline ABSTRACT newline Biofuel is a substitute of petrodiesel and is an unconventional and non-toxic energy source. Biofuel is of mainly two types, bioethanol, and biodiesel. Biodiesel production became more popular in this century to reduce the dependency of human population on petro-based fuels and to reduce the exploitation of non-renewable energy sources. The present research work deals with the use of rice moth larvae for lipid extraction by Soxhlet extraction after drying them for 48 hours at hot air oven to extract their grease/fat. The solvent used in the extraction was distilled off by simple distillation process. The grease was then further used for biodiesel production using a transesterification process to form mono-alkyl esters by the reaction of triglycerides with alcohol. The biodiesel produced from the grease was tested to estimate its acid value, iodine value and saponification value. Characterisation of the grease and biodiesel were done by GC-MS (gas chromatography and mass spectrometry) to identify the compounds present in them. After grease extraction from larvae, the residue powder was checked by using Biuret test, Xanthoproteic test, and Nin-hydrin test to confirm the presence of proteins, and quantitative estimation of protein was done by Lowry test. The present research work concluded that C. cephalonica, rice moth larvae can be used as a feedstock for biodiesel production. After extraction of lipids, the residue containing protein may be used to make animal feed. Before our study, no work has been done in India on insects for biodiesel production. This is a new concept of using insect lipids by a cost effective method for biodiesel production. newline newlineKeywords Biofuel, biodiesel, renewable energy, biomass, transesterification, Corcyra cephalonica (rice moth larvae), Biodiesel properties, edible and non-edible feedstock, insect protein, extraction, energy demand, GC-MS, Lowry assay. newline newline newline newline newline