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

of various Japanese soyfoods, including natto, miso (white,
red, or Swiss), tofu, frozen tofu, yuba, shoyu. Many of his
descriptions of soyfoods are based on Trimble (1896).
“Tofu, or bean cheese, is prepared as follows: The beans
are soaked in water for about twelve hours, and crushed
between millstones until of a uniform consistency. The
ground material is then boiled with about three times its bulk
of water for about an hour, and fi ltered through cloth. The
fi ltrate is white and opaque, having somewhat the appearance
of milk. It has, however, the taste and smell of malt. This
milky liquid, to some extent, resembles cow’s milk in
composition, as is shown by the following table:” The table,
titled “Comparison of the composition of soy-bean milk and
cows’ milk,” shows that the two liquids (soy / cow) have the
following composition: Water 92.53% / 86.08%, albuminoids
3.02% / 4.00%, fat 2.13% / 3.05%, etc.
“The protein in soy-bean milk is precipitated by adding
the mother liquor obtained in the manufacture of salt from
sea water, which contains considerable magnesium chloride.
The precipitate is fi ltered off and formed into cakes with the
hands. It is eaten in the fresh state or frozen. In the latter case
it loses part of its water.”
“Though these soy-bean products are prepared chiefl y in
Japan and other eastern countries, their manufacture has been
attempted to some extent in Switzerland and elsewhere...”
“Bean sausages in considerable variety are prepared
in Germany, and formed part of the ration of the German
soldier in the Franco-Prussian war. So far as can be learned,
these are always made from ordinary varieties of beans and
not from soy beans...
“Under the name of coffee beans, soy beans are eaten
to some extent in Switzerland as a vegetable, and dried and
roasted are also used as a coffee substitute. Their use for this
latter purpose is not unknown in America. The attempt has
recently been made by certain dealers to place the soy bean
on the market as a new substitute for coffee and to sell it
under other names at an exorbitant price.
“Bulletin No. 98 of the North Carolina Experiment
Station recommends soy beans as a palatable vegetable when
prepared as follows: Soak the beans until the skins come off
and stir in water until the skins rise to the surface and then
remove them. Boil the beans with bacon until soft, season
with pepper, salt, and butter, and serve hot. If the beans are
green the preliminary soaking may be omitted. No other
references to the use of soy beans for human food in the
United States have been found.”
Note 1. This is the earliest English-language document
seen (Oct. 2003) that contains the term “soy-bean milk.”
It is also the earliest U.S. government document or USDA
document seen (May 2006) that uses the term “soy-bean
milk” (or any other term containing the word “milk”) to refer
to soymilk.
Note 2. This is the earliest document seen (Jan. 2005)
concerning the work of the USDA with nutrition (or home
© Copyright Soyinfo Center 2012
HISTORY OF NATTO AND ITS RELATIVES 41
economics) and soybeans. Address: Offi ce of Experiment
Stations, USDA, Washington, DC.
44. Trimble, Henry. 1897. The soy bean. American J. of
Pharmacy 69:584-93. Nov. [11 ref]
• Summary: Much of this material is derived from Williams
and Langworthy (1897). Illustrations (p. 585, from Williams,
p. 5) show: (a) fl owering branch of a soy bean plant (reduced
2/3), (b) one of the fl owers (enlarged), (c) pods of a soy bean
plant (reduced 2/3).
One table (p. 588) shows the chemical composition of
various kinds of forage made from the soy bean (fresh or
air-dry substance, or water-free substance): Fodder (early
bloom to early seed), soy-bean hay, straw, straw (hulls and
vines after threshing), soy-bean seed, soy-bean meal (18.9%
/ 21.0% fat), soy-bean ensilage, corn and soy-bean ensilage,
millet and soy bean ensilage.
Another table (p. 591) shows the composition of the
following “Soy-bean food products”: Fresh tofu, frozen tofu,
natto, yuba, white miso, red miso, Swiss miso, and two types
of shoyu. For each is given the percentage of water, protein,
fat, nitrogen-free extract, fi ber, and ash [minerals].
Note: This is the earliest English-language document
seen (Sept. 2011) that contains the term “soy-bean food” or
“soy-bean food products.” It is also the earliest document
seen (Sept. 2011) concerning the etymology of the word
“soyfoods.” Address: USA.
45. Lafar, Franz. 1897. Technische Mykologie. Ein
Handbuch der Gaerungsphysiologie... Erster Band:
Schizomyceten-Gaerungen [Technical mycology.
A handbook of fermentation physiology... Vol. 1:
Schizomycetic fermentations]. Jena: Verlag von Gustav
Fischer. xiii + 362 p. See p. 290, 305-15. Illust. No index.
25 cm. Foreword by Prof. Dr. Emil Chr. Hansen (Carlsberg-
Laboratorium, Kopenhagen [Copenhagen]). [7 ref. Ger]
• Summary: The introduction gives a detailed early history
of the discovery of fermentation, microorganisms and
Mikrozymen / Mikrozyma (microzymes) (including the work
of Needham, Spallanzani, Franz Schulze, Theodor Swann,
Schröder and Dusch, Louis Pasteur, and Béchamp), its
relation to spoilage, the development of fermentation theory,
and the nature of the fermentation organisms.
In Chapter 31, “Cheese fermentations and related
decompositions,” section #179 is titled “Natto and miso.”
These fermented foods are both made from the soybean
(Soja-Bohne). For natto: The fermentation results in a partial
transformation of the proteins into amides, peptones, guanin,
xanthin, and tyrosin. The resulting mass is called natto in
Japan, and is sold commercially. Note: Even though the word
“enzymes” is not used, the author describes their action.
This is the earliest document seen (July 2003) describing the
action of enzymes produced during a soybean fermentation.
At the end of the same section, koji, shoyu, tofu, nukamiso,