Warnakulasuriya Fernando
Doctor of Philosophy, (Food Technology and Microbiology)
Study Completed: 2011
College of Sciences
Citation
Thesis Title
The effects of rice fibre on probiotic fermentation
Read article at Massey Research Online: 
Ms Fernando investigated the role of rice fibre in stimulating the growth and corresponding SCFA (Short Chain Fatty Acid) formation of human faecal micro-flora and individual and co-cultures of probiotics. She also evaluated the effects of environmental factors on the adhesion of probiotics to rice fibre. Exploring the functional properties of the rice fibre has provided a better knowledge on the effect of rice or rice based fibre in the human gut. The information obtained in this study suggests that rice fibre could be used to prevent human diseases by promoting healthy human gut flora, supporting the idea that rice is an important natural source of dietary fibre.
Supervisors
Professor Steve Flint
Professor Arthur Bamunuarachi
Dr Kkds Ranaweera
Professor Charles Brennan