History of Natto and Its Relatives (1405-2012 - SoyInfo Center

cooking: Soya bean paste and whole beans (not dehulled).
Utilization of the paste: A. Directly (mix with fl our of wheat
or corn and beaten eggs to make deep-fried balls). B. To
prepare soya bean milk: (a) From the paste with boiling
water. (b) Using the Cornell method from soymilk. Use of
the residue from preparation of soy bean milk [okara]: In
biscuits, etc. Utilization of whole soya beans: baked, sweet
baked powder, stew.
Recipes from the Mission of Toussiana (Upper Volta). 1.
Sumbala, an aromatic product usually made from néré seeds
was developed by the Centre Ménager [a family assistance
center] of Toussiana. It is ready after 3 days. 2. Soymilk.
3. Soy fritters (deep fried balls made from soy fl our, and
seasoned with salt and pimento). 4. Soya Faros (a small
white tuber whose nutritional value can be greatly improved
if served with soy fl our in a preparation steamed in leaves).
5. Soya To, a porridge made traditionally with sorghum and
millet fl our, but fortifi ed with soy fl our. Address: Inst. for
Agricultural Research, Samaru, Ahmadu Bello Univ., PMB
1044, Zaria, Nigeria.
643. Buchanan, Robert E.; Gibbons, N.E. eds. 1974.
Bergey’s manual of determinative bacteriology. 8th ed.
Baltimore, Maryland: The Williams & Wilkins Co. 1246 p.
• Summary: In “Part 15: Endospore-forming rods and
cocci” is a section (p. 529-33) titled “Genus I. Bacillus
Cohn 1872, 174,” by T. Gibson and Ruth E. Gibson. It
discusses Bacillus subtilis and Bacillus natto. Both are in
the family Bacillaceae, and in the genus Bacillus, whose
members have rod-shaped cells, are aerobic or facultative,
and usually produce the enzyme catalase. Page 533 (R.7)
states: “Original cultures of Bacillus natto Sawamura 1906,
109 were found to be identical with B. subtilis by Smith et al.
(1946).”
Page 1074 (L.4) gives the full citation for this 1946
publication as: Smith, N.R., Gordon, R.E.; Clark, F.E.
1946. Aerobic mesophilic sporeforming bacteria. USDA
Miscellaneous Publication No. 559. p. 1-112.
644. Kobayashi, Keizô. 1974. Shôjin ryôri nyûmon [Entry
gate to Zen vegetarian cookery]. Tokyo: Shibata Shoten. 230
p. Illust. 22 cm. [Jap]
• Summary: The author was born in 1930. Address:
Formerly asst. head cook at Eiheiji Zen Monastery. Now
head priest, Rinsho-ji, Tateoka, Murayama-shi, Yamagata
prefecture.
645. Nihon tabemono hyakka [Encyclopedia of Japanese
foods]. 1974. Tokyo: Shinjin Butsu Orai-sha. [Jap]*
646. Ashaye, T.I.; Asenime, I.O.E.; Afolabi, N.O.; Van
Rheenen, H.A. 1975. Soybean production in Nigeria.
INTSOY Series No. 6. p. 223-26. D.K. Whigham, ed.
Soybean Production, Protection, and Utilization: Proceedings
© Copyright Soyinfo Center 2012
HISTORY OF NATTO AND ITS RELATIVES 218
of a Conference for Scientists of Africa, the Middle East, and
South Asia (College of Agric., Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-
Champaign). [13 ref]
• Summary: “Areas of production: Benue Province in
Benue-Plateau State is a center of production, followed by
the Abuja area in the North Western State and Southern Zaria
Province in North Central State as minor production areas.
The crop is produced in small holdings of 1 to 2 hectares per
farmer, with an average yield of 600 to 800 kg/ha...
“Most of the crop is sold to United Kingdom consumers.
Italy, Hungary, and Western Germany are other markets for
Nigerian soybeans.
“Most of the soybeans produced in Nigeria are exported
as a cash crop, except for a few that are used for human
consumption in some parts of the northern states. Yuwa (13)
stated that the Gwarrin Genge around Diko have discovered
that soybeans can be used for making ‘daddawa’ [dawadawa]
in place of the usual locust bean. Also the Koros around
Ija pound it into powder and use it in place of melon seed
to thicken their soup. Recently, however, because of the
prevalent kwashiorkor (acute protein defi ciency syndrome)
in many poor Nigerian children, there appears to be
stimulated interest in the use of soybean for human food.”
Address: 1&3. Inst. of Agricultural Research and Training,
Univ. of Ife, Ibadan, Nigeria.
647. Fujii, Hisao; Shiraishi, A.; Kaba, H.; Shibagaki, M.;
Takahashi, S.; Honda, A. 1975. Itohiki nattô ni okeru ijô
hakkô to nattô-kin fuaaji [Abnormal fermentation in natto
production and Bacillus natto phages]. Hakko Kogaku Zasshi
(J. of Fermentation Technology) 53(7):424-28. July. [7 ref.
Jap; eng]
Address: Faculty of Home Life Science, Fukuoka Woman’s
Univ., Kasumigaoka, Fukuoka, Japan.
648. Lovett, Paul S.; Bramucci, Michael G. 1975. Plasmid
deoxyribonucleic acid in Bacillus subtilis and Bacillus
pumilus. J. of Bacteriology 124(1):484-90. Oct. [23 ref]
• Summary: The authors found two plasmids from Bacillus
subtilis strains; they named them pMB1 and pMB2 and gave
the molecular weight of each. The plasmids were present in
several copies per chromosome.
Since the word “natto” does not appear in this article,
the writers may well have been unaware that Bacillus subtilis
has long been used in Japan to produce a popular fermented
food from soybeans–natto.
Although the function of these plasmids has not
been determined, the authors suggest the usefulness of
these plasmids for the construction of recombinant DNA
molecules.
Contains 7 fi gures, including 5 graphs and 2 electron
micrographs of plasmids pMB1 and pMB2 (with a bar
showing their approximate size in micrometers).
Note: This is the earliest document seen (Jan. 2012) that