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

to identify the reasons as to why and how some traditional
foods have survived in certain regions, while the others have
disappeared or reached the verge of extinction.
“Another related activity is the one carried out by
Ajinomoto Company, a major food manufacturer in Japan,
which has got the modern audio-visual media, video-tapes
and 36 mm-fi lms. Their team has been documenting the
processing of some selected traditional foods like Tofu, Yuba,
Fu and such other foods as demonstrated by professionals
by using the old traditional methods and facilities. This
would help in the documentation of traditional technologies
before they disappear in the event of modernisation of such
foods. Such tapes and fi lms have been made available by the
company...
“Traditional foods, especially those of plant origin, are
prepared by such complex multi-step processes as to be
called ‘products of human wisdom.’ Therefore there is so
much to learn from such products if serious attention be paid.
Indeed they have great potential for developing new food
industries.” Address: Kyoritsu Women’s Univ., Tokyo, Japan.
1154. Arocena, Javier. 1986. Re: Brief history of the
soyfoods company Zuaitzo in Spain. Letter to William
Shurtleff at Soyfoods Center, Sept. 10. 2 p. Typed, without
signature on letterhead. [Eng]
• Summary: “I’ve been working for the last 4 years making
tofu, seitan, and tempeh, in a craftsman way, in the North of
Spain, in the Basque country. Unfortunately in all of Spain
we are only two people making those kind of products, even
if slowly, slowly, people are asking us more and more for
them every day. I have graduated in biology, and so have
a background in what I am doing. I’ve really found myself
useful for the rest of the world, and enjoy my life and work...
I’d like to ask if there is any possibility of working for a
short time (a summer or a month) in a place where I could
learn how to make miso, tamari, natto, sufu, and soynuts.”
Address: Zuaitzo, Correria, 39–01001 Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain.
Phone: 945/28 86 30.
1155. Fukushima, Danji. 1986. New development in the
process of traditional soyfoods in Japan. In: F.G. Winarno,
ed. 1986. International Soyfoods Symposium. xiv + 403
p. See p. 21-57. Held 16-18 Sept. 1986 in Jogyakarta,
Indonesia. [22 ref]
• Summary: Contents: Abstract. Soy milk. Tofu. Soy sauce.
Miso. Natto.
Table 1 (p. 28) shows changes in the size of the soymilk
market in Japan from 1979 to 1985. For each year there are
statistics for the amount of soymilk sold (in kiloliters), the
ratio of that amount to the amount sold during the previous
year, the total retail value in yen, the ratio of the retail value
that year to the value the previous year, and the ratio of the
retail value that year to the value in 1979. The amount of
soymilk sold in million liters is as follows: 1979–6.5 million
© Copyright Soyinfo Center 2012
HISTORY OF NATTO AND ITS RELATIVES 364
liters. 1980–12.0. 1981–25.2. 1982–54.3. 1983–111.5. 1984–
84.013. 1986–55.354.
Also contains a detailed analyses of the off-fl avors
in soymilk. These off fl avors are brought about through
the hydrolysis of the glycosides by the Beta-glycosidase
contained in soybeans. Contains 46 fi gures, including many
photos, fl owcharts, and equipment designs. Address: Food
Research Inst., Kikkoman Co. Ltd., 339 Noda, Noda City,
Chiba prefecture, Japan.
1156. Hara, Toshio; Ishizaki, A.; Ueda, S. 1986. Formation
of heteroduplex molecules between plasmids pUH1 and
pLS11 in polyglutamate-producing Bacillus strains: Note.
Agricultural and Biological Chemistry 50(9):2391-94. Sept.
[15 ref]
• Summary: The main component in the viscous material on
the surface of natto is gamma polyglutamate (gamma-PGA),
which contains D- and L-glutamate in varying proportions.
“A plausible mechanism for the biosynthetic pathway for
PGA has been proposed by Thorne et al.” (1955a & b) for
another species of Bacillus.
Photos show: (1) Agarose Gel Electrophoresis of Digests
of pLS11 with Lanes 1-4. (2) Hybridization patterns. (3)
Heteroduplex molecules between pUH1 and pLS11.
Illustrations show: (1) A circular restriction map and
regions of homology of pLS11. (2) An interpretation of
the measurements in photo (3). Address: 1-2. Dep. of Food
Science & Technology, Faculty of Agriculture, Kyushu
Univ., Hakozaki, Fukuoka 812, Japan; 3. Dep. of Applied
Microbial Technology, Kumamoto Inst. of Technology,
Ikeda, Kumamoto 860, Japan.
1157. Popoola, T.O.S.; Akueshi, C.O. 1986. Nutritional
evaluation of daddawa, a local spice made from soybean
(Glycine max). World Journal of Microbiology and
Biotechnology 2(3):405-09. Sept. *
Address: Dep. of Botany, Univ. of Jos, Jos, Nigeria.
1158. Product Name: [Natto].
Foreign Name: Natto.
Manufacturer’s Name: Sojvita Produktions GmbH.
Manufacturer’s Address: Hauptplatz 1, 2493
Lichtenwoerth, Austria. Phone: 02622/75494.
Date of Introduction: 1986. September.
Ingredients: Vergorenen Sojabohnen.
Wt/Vol., Packaging, Price: 150 gm.
How Stored: Refrigerated.
New Product–Documentation: Letter from Norbert
Brunthaler. 1988. Jan. 4. Gives date of introduction as
September 1986. Label. 1987. 3.5 by 1.5 inches. Black typed
letters on white. Pressure sensitive label. See next page.
1159. Toyo Shinpo (Soyfoods News).1986. Zenkoku shuyô
toshi no tôfu seihin nenkan kônyû kingaku [Annual amount