Publications by authors named "Belinda Meiring"

The development of alternative proteins derived from fungi-based sources is gaining recognition due to their health benefits and lower environmental impact, compared to traditional animal-based sources. In this study, we investigated the culture conditions for mycelia, focusing on the nutritional requirements and yield optimization using solid surface culture and liquid-state culture methods. Our findings indicate that optimal culture conditions involve glucose as the primary carbon source, with an initial pH of 6.

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Unripe banana flour starch possesses a high degree of resistance to enzymatic hydrolysis, a unique and desirable property that could be exploited in the development of functional food products to regulate blood sugar levels and promote digestive health. However, due to a multifactorial phenomenon in the banana flour matrix-from the molecular to the micro level-there is no consensus regarding the complex mechanisms behind the slow enzymatic hydrolysis of unripe banana flour starch. This work therefore explores factors that influence the enzymatic hydrolysis resistance of raw and modified banana flour and its starch including the proportion and distribution of the amorphous and crystalline phases of the starch granules; granule morphology; amylose-amylopectin ratio; as well as the presence of nonstarch components such as proteins, lipids, and phenolic compounds.

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