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

Dwarf (estimated value 86), 1.1 tons/acre of straw and 12.7
bu/acre of grain.
The text immediately below the table explains: “The Soy
beans [sic] (Glycine hispida) is a leguminous plant native of
Japan and China, and ranks very high from a chemical point
of view. The plant is an annual, erect in growth and branches
profusely. There are a large number of varieties, nearly all of
which are too late for the conditions of Ontario. The different
varieties are distinguished largely by the time required for
the plants to mature and by the color of the seed; the yellow,
the green, and the black, being the most common. The Soy
beans are used for green fodder, silage, hay, pasture, and
as a soil renovator, and the grain is used as a feed for live
stock. These beans have been used as a food for man from
the earliest times in Japan and China, and more recently
in the European countries. They are not used as a food by
themselves, but are made into different complex forms, of
which fi ve are quite common among Japanese, namely:
natto, tofu, miso, yuba, shoyu.
“Conclusions.
“1. The Soy beans gave very good results in the Union
experiments in 1899.
“2. The medium green Soy beans which gave the largest
yield of grain per acre of the three varieties tested over
Ontario in 1899, is the latest of the three varieties.
“3. The American Coffee Berry was the most popular
variety with the experimenters when yield, time of maturity,
etc., were all taken into consideration.”
Note 1. This is the earliest report seen (Aug. 2002) in
this periodical concerning soy beans. C.A. Zavitz is also
secretary of the Ontario Agricultural and Experimental
Union, and a member of its Committee on Agriculture
(appointed at the last annual meeting).
Note 2. This is the earliest document seen (Jan. 2012)
that mentions natto in Canada. Address: B.S.A., Director of
Co-operative Experiments in Agriculture, O.A.C. [Ontario
Agricultural College], Guelph [Ontario, Canada].
55. Sawa, S. 1902. Note on Hamananatto, a kind of vegetable
cheese. Bulletin of the College of Agriculture, Tokyo Imperial
University 4(5):419-20. March. [1 ref. Eng]
• Summary: “This peculiar product is prepared from soybeans,
as are also two other kinds of vegetable cheese
manufactured in Japan, the Miso and the Natto; but it has
a different fl avour and taste, and lacks the slimy character
of the common Natto. It is manufactured only in the central
provinces of Japan–especially in those of Mikawa and
Totomi, from which it fi nds its way all over the country. It
has an agreeable salty taste and a peculiar odor somewhat
resembling that of the fresh crust of brown bread. There
is not any mycelium discernible with the naked eye. The
soy-beans composing it form no compact mass, and are
of a brown colour with a thin layer of a salty taste and a
somewhat sticky consistency.
© Copyright Soyinfo Center 2012
HISTORY OF NATTO AND ITS RELATIVES 48
“In preparing this product, the soy-beans are well
washed, boiled to softness, spread on straw mats, and
mixed with wheat fl our (6 liters fl our to 10 liters soybeans).
Moldfungi will now develop, but soon afterwards
this mixture is exposed to the direct sunlight for three days,
probably to kill the fungi, and is then put into fl at tubs. After
12-13 days some common salt and ginger are added. The
entire mass is then kept in tubs under pressure for about
thirty days.
“A portion, carefully freed from the pieces of ginger and
particles of straw mats used in its manufacture, was dried,
pulverized and sifted through a 0.5 mm sieve. I found the
chemical composition of the dry matter to be as follows:
Albuminoid nitrogen 3.57%. Crude fat 3.44%. Crude fi bre
6.87%. Total carbohydrate excluding cellulose 8.40%.
Total ash, including salt added 18.54%. The fresh sample
contained 44.73% water and 55.23% dry matter.
“There exist at least three different kinds of bacteria in
this product. The most numerous colonies on agar are of two
kinds.” A detailed microbiological description is given.
Note 1. This is the earliest document seen, and also the
earliest English-language document seen (Nov. 2011) that
contains the word Hamananatto (or “Hamanatto”).
Note 2. This is the earliest English-language document
seen (Jan. 2012) that uses the word “sticky” to describe
natto.
56. Suda, Katsusaburô; Yoneki, Z. 1902. Nattô no bisei-butsu
ni tsuite [On the microorganisms of natto]. Yakugaku Zasshi
(J. of the Pharmaceutical Society of Japan) No. 242. p. 321-
26. April. Special Conference Lecture (Rinji Taikai Enzetsu).
[Jap]
• Summary: The authors believe that the microorganisms
contained in natto consist of one sort of motile [mobile]
and two sorts of immotile varieties. They predict that the
varieties which take part in the fermentation of natto and
cause the change in its chemical composition, producing
thereby its characteristic smell and stickiness, are probably
the motile and one of the immotile varieties. Address: 1.
Sendai; 2. Joshu.
57. Koenig, Franz Joseph. ed. 1903. Chemie der
menschlichen Nahrungs- und Genussmittel. Vol 1.
Chemische Zusammensetzung... Ed. 4 [The chemistry of
human foods and food adjuncts (stimulants / enjoyables).
Vol. 1. Chemical composition... 4th ed.]. Berlin: Verlag von
Julius Springer. 1535 p. See vol. 1, p. 97-98, 595-600, 638,
651-53, 1463, 1483-84, 1509. [31 ref. Ger]
• Summary: Summaries of early studies on the chemical
composition of soybeans and various soyfoods, plus
some original studies. Commercial sauces and Japanese
shoyu (p. 97-98). Cites: Wein, Kinch, Anderson, Senff,
Schwackhöfer & Stua, Zulkowski, Mach, Ulbricht, Wildt,
Schröder, Blaskovics, Caplan, Pellet, Carriere, Kellner,