## 3 Results and Discussion
\begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c} \hline
**Samples** & **Region** & **pH** & **Moisture (\%)** \\ \hline GMH1 & South & 3.61 \(\pm\) 0.16 \({}^{\mathrm{h,i,j}}\) & 36.04 \(\pm\) 2.53 \({}^{\mathrm{h}}\) \\ GMH2 & Southeast & 4.36 \(\pm\) 0.23 \({}^{\mathrm{a,b,c,d}}\) & 38.42 \(\pm\) 0.58 \({}^{\mathrm{b,c,d,e,f,g,h}}\) \\ GMH3 & Southeast & 4.13 \(\pm\) 0.06 \({}^{\mathrm{c,d,e,f,g}}\) & 36.09 \(\pm\) 0.48 \({}^{\mathrm{g}}\) \\ GMH4 & Northeast & 3.83 \(\pm\) 0.12 \({}^{\mathrm{f,g,h,j}}\) & 39.72 \(\pm\) 0.59 \({}^{\mathrm{a,b,c,d}}\) \\ GMH5 & Southeast & 4.60 \(\pm\) 0.26 \({}^{\mathrm{a,b}}\) & 37.13 \(\pm\) 1.45 \({}^{\mathrm{d,e,f,g,h}}\) \\ GMH6 & South & 3.87 \(\pm\) 0.15 \({}^{\mathrm{f,g,h,j}}\) & 40.54 \(\pm\) 0.35 \({}^{\mathrm{a,b}}\) \\ GMH7 & Northeast & 3.70 \(\pm\) 0.10 \({}^{\mathrm{h,i,j}}\) & 39.08 \(\pm\) 0.74 \({}^{\mathrm{a,b,c,d,e}}\) \\ GMH8 & Southeast & 3.77 \(\pm\) 0.06 \({}^{\mathrm{h,i,j}}\) & 36.80 \(\pm\) 0.23 \({}^{\mathrm{f,g,h}}\) \\ GMH9 & Southeast & 3.67 \(\pm\) 0.12 \({}^{\mathrm{h,i,j}}\) & 38.07 \(\pm\) 0.81 \({}^{\mathrm{b,c,d,e,f,g,h}}\) \\ GMH10 & Southeast & 4.50 \(\pm\) 0.17 \({}^{\mathrm{a,b,c}}\) & 39.57 \(\pm\) 0.63 \({}^{\mathrm{a,b,c,d,e}}\) \\ GMH11 & Southeast & 3.83 \(\pm\) 0.06 \({}^{\mathrm{f,g,h,i,j}}\) & 37.28 \(\pm\) 1.98 \({}^{\mathrm{d,e,f,g,h}}\) \\ GMH12 & Southeast & 3.67 \(\pm\) 0.23 \({}^{\mathrm{h,i,j}}\) & 37.08 \(\pm\) 0.45 \({}^{\mathrm{d,e,f,g,h}}\) \\ GMH13 & Southeast & 4.40 \(\pm\) 0.01 \({}^{\mathrm{a,b,c,d}}\) & 38.51 \(\pm\) 0.68 \({}^{\mathrm{b,c,d,e,f,g,h}}\) \\ GMH14 & Northeast & 3.50 \(\pm\) 0.01 \({}^{\mathrm{i,j}}\) & 38.69 \(\pm\) 1.06 \({}^{\mathrm{b,c,d,e,f,g,h}}\) \\ GMH15 & Southeast & 4.43 \(\pm\) 0.15 \({}^{\mathrm{a,b,c}}\) & 38.65 \(\pm\) 0.18 \({}^{\mathrm{b,c,d,e,f,g,h}}\) \\ GMH16 & Central–West & 3.67 \(\pm\) 0.23 \({}^{\mathrm{h,i,j}}\) & 39.03 \(\pm\) 1.24 \({}^{\mathrm{a,b,c,d,e}}\) \\ GMH17 & Southeast & 4.17 \(\pm\) 0.06 \({}^{\mathrm{c,d,e,f,g}}\) & 36.00 \(\pm\) 0.61 \({}^{\mathrm{h}}\) \\ GMH18 & South & 3.63 \(\pm\) 0.12 \({}^{\mathrm{h,i,j}}\) & 40.55 \(\pm\) 1.25 \({}^{\mathrm{a,b}}\) \\ GMH19 & South & 3.83 \(\pm\) 0.15 \({}^{\mathrm{f,g,h,i,j}}\) & 38.68 \(\pm\) 0.48 \({}^{\mathrm{b,c,d,e,f,g,h}}\) \\ GMH20 & Southeast & 3.90 \(\pm\) 0.10 \({}^{\mathrm{e,f,g,h,i,j}}\) & 38.54 \(\pm\) 0.47 \({}^{\mathrm{b,c,d,e,f,g,h}}\) \\ GMH21 & Southeast & 3.87 \(\pm\) 0.15 \({}^{\mathrm{f,g,h,i,j}}\) & 37.15 \(\pm\) 0.35 \({}^{\mathrm{d,e,f,g,h}}\) \\ GMH22 & Southeast & 3.77 \(\pm\) 0.06 \({}^{\mathrm{g,h,i,j}}\) & 36.81 \(\pm\) 0.29 \({}^{\mathrm{e,f,g,h}}\) \\ GMH23 & Southeast & 3.90 \(\pm\) 0.01 \({}^{\mathrm{e,f,g,h,i}}\) & 39.45 \(\pm\) 0.29 \({}^{\mathrm{a,b,c,d,e,f}}\) \\ GMH24 & Northeast & 3.50 \(\pm\) 0.10 \({}^{\mathrm{i,j}}\) & 39.24 \(\pm\) 0.22 \({}^{\mathrm{a,b,c,d,e,f}}\) \\ GMH25 & Northeast & 3.63 \(\pm\) 0.06 \({}^{\mathrm{h,i,j}}\) & 39.56 \(\pm\) 0.75 \({}^{\mathrm{a,b,c,d,e}}\) \\ GMH26 & Northeast & 4.20 \(\pm\) 0.10 \({}^{\mathrm{b,c,d,e,f}}\) & 39.50 \(\pm\) 0.53 \({}^{\mathrm{a,b,c,d,e,f}}\) \\ GMH27 & Central–West & 3.60 \(\pm\) 0.17 \({}^{\mathrm{h,i,j}}\) & 41.47 \(\pm\) 0.70 \({}^{\mathrm{a}}\) \\ GMH28 & Southeast & 4.50 \(\pm\) 0.01 \({}^{\mathrm{a,b,c}}\) & 40.28 \(\pm\) 0.49 \({}^{\mathrm{a,b,c}}\) \\ GMH29 & Southeast & 3.47 \(\pm\) 0.12 \({}^{\mathrm{j}}\) & 40.56 \(\pm\) 0.29 \({}^{\mathrm{a,b}}\) \\ GMH30 & South & 4.17 \(\pm\) 0.12 \({}^{\mathrm{c,d,e,f,g}}\) & 40.31 \(\pm\) 0.85 \({}^{\mathrm{a,b,c}}\) \\ GMH31 & South & 4.63 \(\pm\) 0.06 \({}^{\mathrm{a}}\) & 39.30 \(\pm\) 0.48 \({}^{\mathrm{a,b,c}}\) \\ \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 1: pH and moisture content were measured for the 35 hydrated cassava starch samples obtained from local markets in various regions of Brazil. The values are expressed as mean \(\pm\) standard deviation. Means with different superscript letters in the same column are statistically different according to [PERSON]’s test (\(p<\) 0.05). Lower pH values are generally associated with reduced microbial proliferation.