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

and use chemical fertilizers. In about 1994 they had a very
good yield one year at one site in a back-yard garden on
virgin soil. The soybean plants were lush and the beans were
large. There were big problems with seed storage, since there
were heavy rains 6 months of the year.
Throughout this time, Bisi was doing trials with
utilization. They would take a few pounds of soybeans to
an orphanage and teach them how to make and use soymilk
and okara fritters (seasoned patties of okara mixed with
fl our then, fried). “They loved these foods.” They had a big
demonstration for home economists from the Ministry of
Agriculture, who work with the school feeding program.
They developed a sheet of nutritional information on
soybeans and soymilk (comparing soymilk with cow’s milk)
which they passed out to these nutritionists.
From September to December 1995, with help from the
Trull Foundation of Texas, Plenty was able to send a soy/
agricultural technician from Belize to Liberia to help Imani
House with its soybean project. His name was Ignatius
(“Gomier”) Longville. A Caribbean native and a Rastafarian
(Rasta = “Roots”) farmer, he was skilled in ways of growing
food under adverse conditions using the natural rhythms and
resources. He had worked with Plenty on the island of St.
Lucia from 1984 to 1990. Now he volunteered his services,
providing hands-on assistance to help Imani House and the
farming groups with which they were working in Liberia to
grow soybeans and other crops in nutrient-defi cient soils.
He introduced organic methods of pest management and
demonstrated composting techniques. They used a Rototiller
to open the soil and control the bean beetle, and added small
amounts of chemical fertilizers. The result was the most
successful crop of soybeans ever. The Liberian farmers were
impressed.
In October 1995 Imani House won fi rst prize for food
processing at a World Food Day Exposition in Monrovia.
Gomier and the Imani House staff conducted soyfood
demonstrations for 10,000 people. “We couldn’t make food
fast enough. We made pies, soymilk (mixed with cocoa), soy
fritters, soynuts, and tofu on site. We just didn’t have enough.
It was amazing.” They had plenty of soybeans (300-400 lb),
which they bought from Ghana, with help from the Ghanaian
Ministry of Agriculture.
Building on these successes, Bisi got FAO to agree to
bring in a container of soybeans for planting and to provide
a consultant (Delvin Walker) to help Imani House. Walker
was an agronomist; before the war he had been a teacher of
agriculture at Cuttington University, the Christian university
in Liberia. Walker was already a member of the Imani House
board of directors; he went with Bisi to talk with FAO and
WFP (the World Food Program). They also got the World
Food Program to agree to bring in soybeans for utilization.
The Liberian government had agreed to give Imani House
a memorandum of understanding that they would be the
soybean growers and demonstrators in Liberia. The head
© Copyright Soyinfo Center 2012
HISTORY OF NATTO AND ITS RELATIVES 499
of the Ministry of Agriculture believed that this agreement
would help Imani House to get the funding that they needed
so much. Work was underway using soybeans and cassavas
to make an enriched gari.
Then in April 1996 factional fi ghting fl ared up again,
devastating Monrovia. The civil war was on again. Bisi,
too was devastated–just as her soybean program was fi nally
about to take off. “Armed robbers took our Rototiller, all of
our farming equipment. We lost everything. We left Liberia
and stayed in Senegal for four months, waiting to go back.
But it never got better.” Then they went to Gambia. In
English-speaking Gambia they were invited by a leading
citizen to stay and work to introduce soybeans.
The civil war is now offi cially over, and Bisi is working
to raise funds in the USA which are used to support her
Liberian program. She is also trying to raise funds for the
soybean, agricultural, and literacy programs. The clinic has
been rebuilt and literacy programs have been re-started in
English and Bassa. Benjamin Grant is administering the
programs. The war has cooled down but anyone who buys
equipment is at risk of visits from armed robbers. Because
she is now in New York, Bisi is also developing Imani
House’s local program. She hopes eventually to return to
Liberia. “The problem now is not to import soybean to
Liberia but to grow it. We see it as a way of solving major
problems of malnutrition in Liberia.” Address: Director,
Imani House, 76A Fifth Ave., Brooklyn, New York 11217.
Phone: (718) 638-2059.
1612. Muramatsu, Kanako; Yamawake, Norio; Kiuchi, Kan.
1998. Bacillus subtilis (natto) KFP 419 ni yoru erasutaaze
no seisan [Production of elastase by Bacillus subtilis (natto)
KFP 419]. Nippon Shokuhin Kagaku Kogaku Kaishi (J. of
the Japanese Society for Food Science and Technology)
45(8):494-98. [24 ref. Jap; eng]
• Summary: “Production of elastase by Bacillus subtilis
(natto) KFP 419 was investigated to obtain enough enzyme
for studying on physiological functionality of itohiki-natto...
The maximum elastase activity was obtained at pH 7.0 after
24 hour fermentation” (from journal@rchive). Address:
Kyoritsu Women’s Univ., 2-2-1 Hitotsubashi, Chiyoda-ku,
Tokyo 101, Japan.
1613. Tamang, J.P. 1998. Role of microorganisms in
traditional fermented foods. Indian Food Industry (Mysore,
India) 17(3):162-67. May/June. [32 ref]
• Summary: This article is mainly about the benefi ts of
fermentation and fermented foods. Contents: Introduction
(main microorganisms are fi lamentous fungi, yeasts
and bacteria, especially LAB = lactic acid bacteria).
Biopreservation. Bioenrichment. Microorganisms that
produce enzymes. Microorganisms that destroy undesirable
components. Enrichment of the diet. Mixed starter culture.
Traditional fermented foods of medicinal value (koumiss,