Protaetia brevitarsis larvae produce frass that can be used as an additive to immobilize Cd and improve fertility in alkaline soils

Ya Feng; Aminu Inuwa Darma; Jianjun Yang; Xudong Wang; Mohsen Shakouri

doi:10.1016/j.jhazmat.2024.134379

Protaetia brevitarsis larvae produce frass that can be used as an additive to immobilize Cd and improve fertility in alkaline soils

J Hazard Mater. 2024 Apr 24:472:134379. doi: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2024.134379. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Ya Feng¹, Aminu Inuwa Darma², Jianjun Yang³, Xudong Wang⁴, Mohsen Shakouri⁵

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Environment and Sustainable Development in Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China; College of Natural Resources and Environment, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi 712100, China.
² State Key Laboratory of Efficient Utilization of Arid and Semi-arid Arable Land in Northern China (Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, China).
³ State Key Laboratory of Efficient Utilization of Arid and Semi-arid Arable Land in Northern China (Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, China). Electronic address: yangjianjun@caas.cn.
⁴ College of Natural Resources and Environment, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi 712100, China. Electronic address: wangxd@nwafu.edu.cn.
⁵ Canadian Light Source Inc., University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon S7N 2V3, Canada.

PMID: 38733779
DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2024.134379

Abstract

Bioconversion of agricultural waste by Protaetia brevitarsis larvae (PBL) holds significant promise for producing high-quality frass organic amendments. However, the effects and mechanisms of PBL frass on Cd immobilization in an alkaline environment remain poorly understood. In this study, three types of frass, namely maize straw frass (MF), rice straw frass (RF), and sawdust frass (SF), were produced by feeding PBL. The Cd immobilization efficiencies of three frass in alkaline solutions and soils were investigated through batch sorption and incubation experiments, and spectroscopic techniques were employed to elucidate the sorption mechanisms of Cd onto different frass at the molecular level. The results showed that MF proved to be an efficient sorbent for Cd in alkaline solutions (176.67-227.27 mg g^-1). X-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES) spectroscopy indicated that Cd immobilization in frass is primarily attributed to the association with organic matter (OM-Cd, 78-90%). And MF had more oxygen-containing functional groups than the other frass. In weakly alkaline soils, MF application (0.5-1.5%) significantly decreased Cd bioavailability (5.65-18.48%) and concurrently improved soil nutrients (2.21-56.79%). Redundancy analysis (RDA) unveiled that pH, CEC, and available P were important factors controlling Cd fractions. Path analysis demonstrated that MF application affected Cd bioavailability directly and indirectly by influencing soil chemical properties and nutrients. In summary, MF, the product of PBL-mediated conversion maize straw, demonstrated promise as an effective organic amendment for Cd immobilization and fertility improvement in alkaline soils.

Keywords: Cadmium; Fertility; Insect frass; Path analysis; Protaetia brevitarsis larvae; X-ray absorption near-edge structure spectroscopy.