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

commercial natto starters. In: Kyoko Saio, ed. 2000.
Proceedings–Third International Soybean Processing and
Utilization Conference. Tokyo, Japan: Korin Publishing Co.,
Ltd. [xxiv] + 728 + 8 p. See p. 333-34. [1 ref]
• Summary: In order to improve the quality of natto in
Japan, changes in the incubation temperature program and of
the amount of oxygen consumed within the natto packages
were measured as a function of time. Four programs of
temperature regulation were devised. In the one considered
best (No. 4): The temperature was initially set at 40ºC, then
raised to 47ºC between the 12th and 17th hour–at which
point the temperature in the package rose as high as 52ºC.
After the 20th hour, the temperature was cooled to 4ºC.
Three commercial natto starters (A, B and C) made
by three different companies were used. Five large-seeded
soybean varieties used to make tofu and four small-seeded
varieties used to make natto were studied; all were harvested
in 1999.
Natto made by temperature regulation program No.
4 was twice as viscous that made by program No. 1. The
natto made by Starter C was especially viscous. Natto made
from Suzuyutaka soybeans had the best fl avor. Although it
is generally said that small-seeded soybean varieties make
better natto than large-seeded ones, the latter were found
to be as good as the former for making natto in this study.
Address: Faculty of Home Economics, Kyoritsu Women’s
Univ., Hitotsubashi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 101-8433, Tokyo.
1680. Muramatsu, Kanako; Katsumata, Rie; Watanabe,
Sugio; Tanaka, Tadayoshi; Kiuchi, Kan. 2000. Natto
manufacturing methods employing natto bacilli with high
elastase activity and its mutants. In: Kyoko Saio, ed. 2000.
Proceedings–Third International Soybean Processing and
Utilization Conference. Tokyo, Japan: Korin Publishing Co.,
Ltd. [xxiv] + 728 + 8 p. See p. 335-36. [1 ref]
• Summary: This process begins by forcing bacteria to
mutate by irradiating them with ultraviolet (UV) radiation.
Elastase is an enzyme which, when obtained from a pig’s
pancreas, is sold as a medicine. The goal of the mutation was
to create and isolate one strain of elastase-producing natto
bacilli, plus a second strain that did not require leucine, an
essential amino acid (also called �-amino acid).
But natto made from the mutants was not viscous. So a
new program of temperature regulation was devised. When
the temperature was initially set at 42ºC, then raised to 47ºC
after 8 hours, held there for three hours, then reduced to 42ºC
after 24 hours [which does not add up!], the natto made from
the mutant strains was viscous.
Note: How far are you willing to go to make your natto
taste a little better? Address: Faculty of Home Economics,
Kyoritsu Women's Univ., Hitotsubashi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo
101-8433, Tokyo.
1681. Saio, Kyoko. ed. 2000. Proceedings–Third
© Copyright Soyinfo Center 2012
HISTORY OF NATTO AND ITS RELATIVES 517
International Soybean Processing and Utilization
Conference: Dawn of the innovative era for soybeans.
Tokyo, Japan: Korin Publishing Co., Ltd. [xxiv] + 728 + 8 p.
Held 15-20 Oct. 2000, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan. Illust. Author
index. 30 cm. [Eng]
• Summary: The fi rst international conference of this type
was held in Jilin, China, in 1990. The second was held in
January 1996 in Bangkok, Thailand. Foreword. Program
committee for ISPUC-III. Contents: Keynote session (3
papers). Session 1: Production for processing and utilization
(20 oral presentations/papers, 22 poster presentations).
Session 2: Quality control (13 oral, 7 poster). Session
3: Nutrition and physiological functionality (23 oral, 25
poster). Session 4: Traditional products (23 oral, 19 poster).
Session 5: Modern processing and utilization of foods (32
oral, 20 poster). Session 6: Edible oil and feeds (9 oral, 5
poster). Session 7: Innovative non-food uses (10 oral, 4
poster). Session 8: Strategies for dissemination (18 oral,
4 poster). Satellite session: Monodisperse microspheres
and microchannel technologies (12 oral, 15 poster). Public
symposium: The miracle of Asia–Marvelous fermented
soyfoods (6 oral presentations/papers). Author index.
Sponsors: Organizations/companies (55), individuals (33),
others (8). Within each category, listed in order of date
contributed. Exhibitors (29; an exhibition was held with
the Conference). Advertisers (6 companies purchased fullpage
black-and-white ads). Address: Chair of the Program
Committee, ISPUC-III, Tsukuba, Japan.
1682. Takemura, Hiroshi; Ando, Noriko; Tsukamoto,
Yoshinori. 2000. [Breeding natto bacteria that do not produce
branched short-chain fatty acids and their application to
production of natto without a strong smell]. Nippon Shokuhin
Kagaku Kogaku Kaishi (J. of the Japanese Society for Food
Science and Technology) 47(10):773-79. [23 ref. Jap; eng]
• Summary: “Natto contains branched short-chain fatty
acids (BCFAS), such as isobutyric acid, isovaleric acid, and
2-methylbutyric acid. These BCFAS have an unpleasant
smell. To produce light-smelling natto, we tried to develop
BCFAS non-producing natto bacteria.”
“The natto fermented by B2 strain was valued highly
as a light-smelling natto by sensory evaluation. Finally,
we obtained the LDH-defective mutants by chemical
mutagenesis to utilize in commercial production of natto.
The mutants produced little BCFAS like B2, and the
natto fermented by the mutants had lighter smells” (from
journal@rchive). Address: Mistukan Group Corporation,
2-6, Nakamura-cho, Handa-shi, Aichi prefecture 475-8585,
Japan.
1683. Tamang, Jyoti Prakash. 2000. Microbial diversity
associated with natural fermentation of kinema. In: Kyoko
Saio, ed. 2000. Proceedings–Third International Soybean
Processing and Utilization Conference. Tokyo, Japan: Korin