Tshwane University of Technology, South Africa
Kayise Hypercia Maseko is a dedicated food scientist and PhD candidate at Tshwane University of Technology, specializing in sustainable food production systems and cellular agriculture. With a background in Food Technology, her research focuses on alternative protein sources, functional foods, and food preservation techniques. Her work in fungi-based meat analogues and mushroom mycelia optimization contributes to the advancement of lab-grown food technologies. She has collaborated with Agricultural Research Council (ARC-TSC) and WildBio on projects related to food processing and cultivated meat alternatives. A passionate educator, she has worked as a tutor and assistant lecturer, mentoring future food scientists. Kayise is an active member of SACNASP and SAAFoST, with multiple peer-reviewed journal publications and international conference presentations (SAAFoST 2023, IUFoST 2024). Her commitment to food security and biotechnology innovation is evident in her ongoing research contributions, aiming to address global challenges in sustainable food production.
Profile
Orcid
Education
🎓 PhD in Food Technology (2023 – Present)
Tshwane University of Technology
- Research Topic: Evaluation of biomaterials for mycelium production and development of hybrid cell-cultured meat.
🎓 Master of Agricultural Science (M-Tech in Food Technology) (2019 – 2022)
Tshwane University of Technology
- Research Topic: Screening the functional properties of unripe banana flour from 35 varieties based on their genomic and sub-genomic groups.
- Research Conducted at: Agricultural Research Council – Tropical and Subtropical Crops (ARC-TSC).
🎓 B-Tech in Food Technology (2018)
Tshwane University of Technology
- Research Topic: Commercial Traditional-type, source of fibre mageu.
Research Focus
🔬 Sustainable Food Production Systems – Investigating eco-friendly and efficient food production methods to enhance global food security.
🌱 Cellular Agriculture – Developing innovative approaches to cultivated meat, focusing on hybrid cell-based meat analogues using fungi-based protein sources.
🥦 Alternative Protein Sources – Exploring mushroom mycelia and plant-based proteins as viable meat substitutes for sustainable diets.
🛡️ Food Preservation Techniques – Researching novel food preservation and processing methods to enhance nutritional value and shelf life.
🍌 Functional Foods & Biomaterials – Studying unripe banana flour functional properties and biomaterials for food production to improve food formulations.
🏭 Industry Collaboration – Working with WildBio on cultivated animal cell biomass and hybrid fungi-based meat alternatives.
📢 Academic Outreach – Presenting research at international conferences (SAAFoST 2023, IUFoST 2024) and mentoring students in food science.
Publications
📜 Mushroom mycelia as sustainable alternative proteins for the production of hybrid cell‐cultured meat: A review – Journal of Food Science (2025) 🔗 [DOI: 10.1111/1750-3841.70060]
🍌 Musa species variation, production, and the application of its processed flour: A review – Scientia Horticulturae (2024) 🔗 [DOI: 10.1016/j.scienta.2023.112688]
🍄 Effect of Culture Media on the Yield and Protein Content of Pleurotus ostreatus (Jacq.) Kumm Mycelia – International Journal of Food Science (2024) 🔗 [DOI: 10.1155/ijfo/5562732]
🧪 Discrimination of Musa banana genomic and sub-genomic groups based on multi-elemental fingerprints and chemometrics – Journal of Food Composition and Analysis (2021) 🔗 [DOI: 10.1016/j.jfca.2021.104334]