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

far-sighted man, especially when it came to the potential and
future of soybeans.
Luther’s father and John Wannamaker were cousins.
Mary Joe, who has a PhD degree, is Luther’s daughter.
Luther knew John Wannamaker quite well.
John had a nephew who died about 3 years ago. He
lived as a hermit at the end of the woods. When his will was
probated, it was discovered to everyone surprise, that he
left all of his land to a land trust, that would set it aside for
conservation and not develop it. His uncle, John, would have
liked that!
Luther returned to the business in 1966 to work with his
father. John E. had begun to sell soybean varieties by that
time, and Luther continued this practice. Bragg was one of
the varieties sold. Unfortunately the family no longer has any
seed catalogs from that time period.
Luther grows mostly cottonseed, but for the last ten
years he has grown a black soybean (kuromamé) variety
named Tamba, as a specialty crop. It has a higher sugar
content than most soybeans. He ships most of his black
soybeans (mature/dry) to Japan, where they are boiled with
sugar and served on New Year’s Day (January 1). Now
that the Japanese have discontinued their old rice-growing
quotas, they are growing more soybeans in Japan. These
compete with Luther’s black soybeans, so he would like to
try to sell his black soybeans to Asian Americans–especially
on the West Coast.
This year, for the fi rst time, Luther is growing
(experimentally) a black natto soybean. The Japanese think
that black means sweet. He is also considering harvesting his
Tamba at the green vegetable stage (the seed is still green) to
sell as edamamé. He thinks they would grow well since his
latitude is similar to that where edamamé are grown in Japan.
Moreover, he has a patented soybean picking machine.
However he does not have a freezer or a cooker. Address:
L.B. Wannamaker Seed Co., P.O. Box 497, St. Matthews,
South Carolina, 29135. Phone: 803-874-3011.
1617. Nippon Shokuhin Kagaku Kogaku Kaishi (J. of the
Japanese Society for Food Science and Technology)1998.
Nattô kin to nattô no ito [Bacillus subtilis (natto) and natto’s
strings]. 45(11):710. [3 ref. Jap]
1618. Sarkar, Prabir K.; Morrison, E.; Tinggi, U.; Somerset,
S.M.; Craven, G.S. 1998. B-group vitamin and mineral
contents of soybeans during kinema production. J. of the
Science of Food and Agriculture (London) 78(4):498-502.
Dec. [24 ref]
Address: Queensland Health Scientifi c Services Lab., P.O.
Box 594, Archerfi eld, Brisbane, Queensland 4108, Australia.
1619. Muramatsu, K.; Kanai, Y.; Tanaka, T.; Kiuchi, K. 1998.
Comparison of Korean chungkuk-jang with itohiki-natto
on development of new fermented soybean food. Bulletin
© Copyright Soyinfo Center 2012
HISTORY OF NATTO AND ITS RELATIVES 501
of the Center for Interdisciplinary Studies, Science Culture
Kyoritsu Women’s Univ. 4:22-25. *
1620. Nout, M.J.R.; Bakshi, D.; Sarkar, P.K. 1998.
Microbiological safety of kinema, a fermented soyabean
food. Food Control 9(6):357-62. *
Address: 1. Lab. of Food Microbiology, Wageningen
University, 6700, EV Wageningen, The Netherlands.
1621. Tamang, Jyoti P. 1998. Indigenous fermented foods of
Sikkim Himalaya: Socio-economical perspective. In: Suresh
C. Rai, Rakesh C. Sundriyal, and Eklabaya Sharma, eds.
1998. Sikkim: Perspectives for Planning and Development.
Sikkim, India: Sikkim Science Society; Dehra Dun, India:
Bishen Singh Mahendra Pal Singh. xix + 716 p. See p. 513-
22. [20+ ref]*
• Summary: Includes a discussion of kinema, a fermented
food made from soybeans. Address: Dep. of Botany, Univ.
of North Bengal, NBU 734430, District of Darjeeling, West
Bengal, India.
1622. Baba, Teiji. 1998. Jibun de tsukutte nattô ku: zukai
[Eat the natto you have made yourself: Illustrated]. Tokyo:
Hato Shuppan. 123 p. 21 cm. Series: Omoshiro Sensho, no.
19. [Jap]*
1623. Keuneke, Robin. 1998. Total breast health: The
power food solution for protection and wellness. New York:
Kensington Publishing Corp. xxviii + 416 p. Foreword by
Lendon Smith, M.D. Index. 24 cm. [200+* ref]
• Summary: The key to total breast health (and preventing
breast cancer) is a healthy traditional diet and lifestyle.
Chapter 7, “Soybeans protect against breast cancer,” has
this contents: Two pro-soy quotations. Introduction. Some
phytochemicals in soy and their properties. Phytic acid.
Other benefi ts of soy for women: Osteoporosis, symptoms
of menopause, symptoms of PMS, heart disease, anti-aging
benefi ts, gallstones. Update on the politics of soybeans:
Will quality be sacrifi ced for commercial purposes?
Fermented soy foods are especially benefi cial. The magic
of miso: Folklore was right. The National Cancer Institute
is spreading the word about soy’s ability to protect against
breast (and prostate) cancer. Phytochemicals in soy: (1)
Inhibit the growth of tumor cells. (2) Convert cancer cells
back into normal cells. (3) Block the entry of estrogen into
breast cells; this is benefi cial in preventing cancer. “Research
shows that soy isofl avones may protect against high levels
of synthetic estrogen in the diet.” Soy foods include:
tofu, tempeh, miso, edamame, soy sauce, soymilk, natto
(fermented soybeans), soybeans and second-generation soy
foods such as cheese, textured vegetable protein, and meat
alternatives such as soy breakfast links.
Contains over 125 internationally inspired recipes,
incl. Tofu Cote D’Azur, and Dilled Salmon in Miso-Lemon