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

ground red pepper, is a unique food product available only
in Korea; it refl ects the hot spice preference of its people.
It is prepared by mixing ground meju powder with steamed
cereal fl our, red pepper, salt and water and allowing further
fermentation and ripening of the mixture in earthen jars for
several months. Flowcharts are given for soy sauce, soy
paste, and kochujang.
Under “Recent developments” (p. 187), the development
of improved meju and meju-brine are discussed. Address:
Dep. of Food Technology, Korea Univ., Seoul, Korea.
1151. Odunfa, S. Ayo. 1986. Fermented vegetable proteins
of Nigeria. In: V.H. Potty, et al. eds. 1986. Traditional Foods:
Some Products and Technologies. 292 p. See p. 7-12. Aug.
Presented at the UN University Workshop on “Traditional
Food Technologies: Their Development and Integrated
Utilisation with Emerging Technologies.” Held June 1983 at
CFTRI, Mysore, India. [11 ref]
• Summary: Gives a detailed discussion of iru (dawadawa),
which is by far the most important food condiment in
Nigeria and many countries of West and Central Africa. It is
prepared from the seeds of the African Locust Bean, which
is not normally used as a food in its natural state. The seeds
are fermented naturally for 3-5 days with Bacillus subtilis
in a calabash covered with muslin cloth. Then the resulting
product is used to season vegetable soups and stews. Details
of the fermentation process are given. Address: Dep. of
Botany, Univ. of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria.
1152. Potty, V.H.; Shankar, J.V.; Ranganath, K.A.; et al. eds.
1986. Traditional foods: Some products and technologies.
Mysore, India: Central Food Technological Research Inst.
(CFTRI). 292 p. Aug. Papers presented at the UN University
Workshop on “Traditional Food Technologies: Their
Development and Integrated Utilisation with Emerging
Technologies” held June 1983 at CFTRI, Mysore. 25 cm.
• Summary: This publication contains 27 papers presented
by scientists from countries of Asia, Africa, Europe, and the
Americas. Chapters related to soy are cited separately. The
traditional foods of the following countries are discussed
specifi cally: Ethiopia, Nigeria*, Sudan, Senegal, Pakistan*,
India, Nepal*, Burma*, Thailand*, Malaysia*, Indonesia*,
Philippines, Korea*, China*, Japan*, and Mexico*.
Countries with foods related to soy are followed by an
asterisk (*). Address: Central Food Technological Research
Inst. (CFTRI), Mysore–570 013, India.
1153. Watanabe, Tokuji. 1986. Traditional foods: Their
values, problems and research and development. In: V.H.
Potty, et al. eds. 1986. Traditional Foods: Some Products
and Technologies. 292 p. See p. 201-08. Aug. Presented
at the UN University Workshop on “Traditional Food
Technologies: Their Development and Integrated Utilisation
with Emerging Technologies.” Held June 1983 at CFTRI,
© Copyright Soyinfo Center 2012
HISTORY OF NATTO AND ITS RELATIVES 363
Mysore, India. [7 ref]
• Summary: Contents: Introduction (ways of classifying
traditional foods). Structural characteristics of traditional
food industries in Japan. Traditional food processing
technologies. Problems and reevaluation of traditional foods.
New food processing technologies applied to traditional
foods. Technologies applicable to traditional foods.
Assessment in modernization of traditional food production.
Some activities related to traditional foods. Conclusion.
Traditional foods can be classifi ed as staple or nonstaple,
fresh or processed (processing technologies include
fermentation [e.g. miso, soy sauce, natto], salting, acidifying,
drying after freezing [kori-tofu], sun-drying, fractionation
[tofu], fabrication [ganmodoki], simulation of animal
foods [soy milk, ganmodoki, su-ho-tai made from yuba in
China]), animal or vegetable origin, and region or national
production.
In Japan, rice consumption is decreasing year after year.
It is thus not surprising that consumption of traditional foods
closely associated with rice production are also decreasing.
The reevaluation of traditional foods and their advantages
and disadvantages are discussed. New food processing and
packaging technologies are being applied to traditional
foods, including tofu, miso, natto, and koji. Recently a
method has been found to extend the shelf life of natto
beyond the traditional 1-2 day period. Miso has been freezedried.
“Another application of a new process for the traditional
foods is the emulsion curd which is a semi-solid mixture
with defi nite proportion of soybean protein, oil and water.
It keeps its form without fl ow. Even the dried or frozen
product recovers its original texture by hydration or thawing.
Therefore, it is used as a substitute in dried or frozen Tofu.
Regular Tofu cannot recover its texture once it is frozen or
dried...
Miso can be enriched with vitamin B-2 and calcium,
and its salt content lowered. Since 1980 the Laboratory of
Food Science at Kyoritsu Women’s University has been
conducting a research survey on traditional foods and
dishes in Japan in cooperation with the Cooking Research
Laboratory. “This project consists of three components: (a)
survey of the present status of traditional foods on local
basis at respective regions by visiting prefectural research
organisations–universities and colleges; (b) sending
questionnaires to students for seeking information on the
position of the traditional foods in the dietary patterns of
individual homes and also to obtain their comments on
the future prospects of the local traditional foods; (c) and
documentation regarding local traditional foods, followed by
classifi cation according to preparation or cooking method for
analysis. On the basis of the collected data, the relationship
between each local traditional food and its natural, cultural
and historical background has been studied and published
in the university’s journals. More efforts are being made