TY  - JOUR
JF  - Acarologia
T1  - Insect Frass for Sustainable Pest Management
VL  - 66
IS  - Suppl
SP  - 271
EP  - 271
PY  - 2026
SN  - 0044-586X
SN  - 2107-7207
PB  - Les Amis d'Acarologia
AU  - Maria, Pappas
AU  - NA, NA
AU  - Maria, Pappas
AU  - NA, NA
UR  - https://doi.org/10.24349/x78d-nzxq
DO  - 10.24349/x78d-nzxq
DA  - 2026-07-20
ET  - 2026-07-20
KW  - Insect frass
KW  - Plant defence
KW  - Tomato
KW  - Biological control
AB  - Insects have been identified as a potential solution towards alleviating food insecurity, being a new and sustainable dietary protein for consumption by humans and animals, due to their high nutritional value and resource efficiency in converting organic matter, especially waste, into protein. Despite being highly efficient in converting biowaste into biomass, insect farming results in residual streams such as the excrements originating from larvae (‘insect frass’) which however, have contributed to a rapidly developing industry of soil organic amendments. Furthermore, they are associated with microbes and compounds of interest in agriculture hence, they can be considered as sources of potential alternatives to conventional pesticides. Nevertheless, to date, studies focus on frass contribution to the soil and plants with nutrients, and information on potential to improve plant health is scarce. Here, we present the INSECTFRASS, a newly HFRI-funded project which assesses, validates and promotes the use of insect farming by-products to sustainably improve plant health. It particularly aims to assess to which extent plant defense activated by frass affects herbivores of tomato and their natural enemies, and examine how that affects plant performance. To address the above, INSECTFRASSfollows a multidisciplinary approach to: (1) Identify and characterize different frass and their microbiome that induce plant (direct and indirect) resistance to pests; (2) Understand the molecular and chemical mechanisms underlying effective plant- mediated effects of frass/microbiome communities on plant defense to herbivores, and identify promising metabolites; (3) Evaluate the efficacy of insect frass as soil amendment with plant protection capabilities. We anticipate our multidisciplinary approach to yield novel insight into the exploitation of insect farming by- products. Such effects of insect frass and associated microbial communities/strains will enhance sustainable crop production and reduce pesticide use in agriculture The research project “Insect Frass for Sustainable Pest Management (INSECTFRASS)’ is implemented in the framework of H.F.R.I call “3rd Call for H.F.R.I.’s Research Projects to Support Faculty Members & Researchers” (H.F.R.I. Project Number: 23673).
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