Quest Volume 19 Number 2

Contents: South Africa’s energy transition - An overall analysis of what a just transition would (and should) mean for the country: The national power crisis - Going off the grid works for the wealthy - but could deepen injustice for the poor: Global and local energy crises?: - A look at what is meant by an energy crisis, and the shared responsibility of energy conservation: Green hydrogen - Sounds like a win for developing countries, but cost and transport are problems: Water-Energy-Food (WEF) - The challenges of the Water-Energy-Food (WEF) nexus in South Africa: From waste to watts -Leveraging agrowaste to address South Africa’s power crisis: Hello Iani! - South African sedimentologist part of team to discover new species of dinosaur in Utah: Using nanophotonic biosensors - Laser light used for advanced disease detection: The approaching storm... - ...of disinfectant resistance: ZA App Alert! - Looking at two new proudly South African apps: Winning essays - The first “Welcome to the Blue Planet” competition shows SA youth has tons of promise: Yellow jacket wasps, zoomed in - Using microscopy to see fascinating details on the bodies and wings of wasps: Apple takes on VR - The Vision Pro is billed as the first ‘spatial computer’: Deceptive daisy - Clever flower’s ability to create fake flies finally explained: ’Ghost’ imaging - SA team makes giant leap towards a 3D quantum camera: Medicinal mushroom - Matie student identifies species of medicinal mushroom endemic to Knysna forest: Book review: Subscription:The Department of Science and Innovation: Academy of Science of South Afric

Nutritional Compositions of Optimally Processed Umqombothi (a South African Indigenous Beer)

Umqombothi (a South African indigenous beer) is an important dietary beverage for many undernourished, low-income consumers in rural, semi-urban and urban areas. Umqombothi was brewed using optimal conditions earlier obtained and compared to the customary beer brew (CB) and mixed raw ingredients (RI). The products were evaluated for proximate compositions, minerals, amino acids, B-group vitamins, and sugar compounds. The optimised beer brew (OPB) was relatively higher in energy (165 kcal), crude protein (8.6%), and ash content (1.0%). The CB had the highest concentration of sodium (299.8 mg/kg), magnesium (1170.5 mg/kg), potassium (2993.8 mg/kg), and phosphorus (2100.7 mg/kg). Glutamic acid was the highest detected amino acid, with concentrations of 1.5 g/100 g, 1.5 g/100 g, and 1.6 g/100 g in the RI, CB, and OPB, respectively. The OPB contained a higher concentration of the two forms of vitamin B3, nicotinamide (0.2 µg/g) and nicotinic acid (0.7 µg/g) in comparison to the CB. The concentration of the antioxidant, mannitol, was 0.4 mg/g, 0.2 mg/g, and 2.0 mg/g in the RI, CB, and OPB respectively. Overall, OPB displayed a desirable nutritional profile compared to the CB

The use of technological innovation in bio-based industries to foster growth in the bioeconomy: a South African perspective

AbstractSeveral countries around the world are taking advantage of emerging technologies to leverage the use of natural resources to develop and grow bio-based industries. As a result, these activities have become the backbone of bioeconomy-growth strategies in the developing world. Adoption of the concepts and technological aspects of this facet of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) across government, academia, and industry has fostered innovation in the health, agricultural, and manufacturing sectors. However, the relationship between the technological catalysis of innovation and the bioeconomy from the perspective of a developing country has been left unexplored. In this context, this review explores the contribution of technological advances toward a sustainable, valuable bioeconomy and the current policy mandates. We focus our attention on South Africa because the country has a holistic, well-defined bioeconomy strategy that is consistent with the conditions of developed nations more generally. The review suggests that developing countries could adopt a multidisciplinary approach to designing their bioeconomy strategies. We further assert that developing holistic strategies that address the recent COVID-19 pandemic and potential future world crises could be beneficial in achieving sustainable development goals

The effect of selected Non-Saccharomyces yeasts and cold-contact fermentation on the production of low-alcohol marula fruit beer

The last decade has seen increased consumer demand for zero and low-alcohol beverages. Cold-contact fermentation (CCF) in combination with non-Saccharomyces can be an effective method for producing low-alcohol fruit beverages with desirable qualities. Thus, the aim of this study was to develop a CCF process to produce low-alcohol marula fruit beer using selected non-Saccharomyces yeasts. The effect of temperature (°C), and time (h) on alcohol (% v/v), pH, total titratable acidity (LAE/mL) and specific gravity (SG) was evaluated using response surface methodology. Sterile marula fruit juice was inoculated with Metschnikowia pulcherrima, Pichia fermentans, or Pichia kluyveri respectively. Higher final SG values were observed for temperatures between 8 °C and 15 °C. Above 15 °C, the SG decreased with an increase in temperature and time. Fermentation at temperatures below 10 °C produced zero to low-alcohol marula fruit beer (0.00–0.20 % v/v) with an attenuation rate above 80 %. This was confirmed by the significance of quadratic models for SG (p ≤ 0.01), and alcohol (p = 0.00) for the three selected yeasts. Overall, P. kluyveri produced the lowest alcohol levels, followed by M. pulcherrima and P. fermentans, respectively. The study confirmed that cold-contact fermentation with non-Saccharomyces yeasts can be an effective biological method to produce low-alcohol marula fruit beer in line with the emerging consumer demand for low-alcohol beverages