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

produces a strongly fi brinolytic enzyme, was isolated from
douchi. A fi brinolytic enzyme (subtilisin DFE) was purifi ed
from the supernatant of B. amyloliquefaciens DC-4 culture
broth and displayed thermophilic, hydrophilic and strong
fi brinolytic activity. The characteristics of subtilisin DFE are
described. The fi rst 24 amino acid residues of the N-terminal
sequence of subtilisin DFE were identical to those of
subtilisin K-54, and different from that of NK and CK.
Results from subtilisin DFE gene sequence analysis showed
that subtilisin DFE is a novel fi brinolytic enzyme. Address:
College of Life Sciences, Sichuan University, Sichuan
Key Laboratory of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology,
Chengdu 610064, China.
1753. Suzuki, Y.; Kondo, K.; Ichise, H.; Tsukamoto, Y.;
Urano, T.; Umemura, K. 2003. Dietary supplementation with
fermented soybeans suppresses intimal thickening. Nutrition
(Burbank, California) 19(3):261-64. March. *
• Summary: Although soyfoods have been consumed in East
Asia for more than 1,000 years, it is only during the past
20 years that they have made inroads into Western diets.
We investigated the effect of dietary supplementation with
natto extracts produced from fermented soybeans on intimal
thickening of arteries after vessel endothelial denudation.
Natto extracts include nattokinase, a potent fi brinolytic
enzyme having four times greater fi brinolytic activity than
plasmin. Address: Dep. of Pharmacology, Hamamatsu Univ.
School of Medicine, Shizuoka, Japan.
1754. Product Name: [Nattoesse: Essence of Natto Food].
Foreign Name: Nattoesse.
Manufacturer’s Name: Ventrep Sante, Inc. (Importer/
Marketer). Made in Japan by Gudo Shusei Co., Ltd. (Tokyo).
Manufacturer’s Address: 3-3-26-201 Jingu-mae, Shibuyaku,
Tokyo 150-0001, Japan. Phone: +81 3 3401 8360.
Date of Introduction: 2003. March.
Ingredients: Natto.
How Stored: Shelf stable.
New Product–Documentation: Leafl et (8½ by 11 inch,
color) from Natural Products Expo West (Anaheim,
California). 2003. March. “Nattoesse: Essence of Natto
Food. Soy beans naturally fermented by Bacillus (NattoVR
501) living in rice straws.” Contents: A functional food from
traditional Japanese diet. Research reports. A brief story
[history] of natto food and nattokinase.
1755. Kasahara, Takaoki; Kato, Tadafumi. 2003. A new
redox-cofactor vitamin for mammals. Nature (London)
422(6934):832. April 24. [10 ref]
• Summary: A Japanese research team confi rmed that PQQ
(pyrroloquinoline quinone), a substance discovered in 1979,
can be classifi ed as a vitamin. More specifi cally, it is a new
B vitamin, joining niacin / nicotinic acid (vitamin B3) and
ribofl avin (vitamin B2)–fi rst new vitamin in 55 years. The
© Copyright Soyinfo Center 2012
HISTORY OF NATTO AND ITS RELATIVES 536
most concentrated known source of PQQ is natto, a type
of soybeans fermented by Bacillus natto bacteria. The new
vitamin plays an important role in the fertility of mice and
may have a similar function in humans.
Note 1. This is the earliest document seen (Jan. 2012)
that mentions PQQ in connection with natto.
Note 2. A Google search of natto + pqq (July 2009) gets
2,480 hits. Natto is an excellent source of PQQ, a critical
nutrient for skin health. PQQ is essential to the mammalian
diet, meaning it can only be obtained from food sources.
Address: Lab. for Molecular Dynamics of Mental Disorders,
Brain Science Inst., RIKEN, Wako-shi, Saitama 351-0198,
Japan.
1756. Ontario Soybean Growers Newsletter.2003. The
Australian soybean industry. May. p. 5.
• Summary: “This article was written by Dr. Malcolm
Morrison, an Oilseed Physiologist with Ag Canada. He is
currently on a study leave in Australia.
“In 2002, Australia produced 70,000 tonnes (metric
tons) of soybean on 30,000 ha (74,000 acres) of land. Major
production areas are in southern Queensland and northern
New South Wales, with pockets in other irrigated regions of
the country. Soybeans are planted during summer and most
production is irrigated. Soybeans are used as a green manure
crop in sugar cane, returning 40 to 300 kg/ha (35- 267
pounds / acre) of nitrogen, depending on whether the seeds
are harvested or the crop ploughed in green.
“Annual Australian demand for soybeans far outstrips
national production. The crushing industry imports about
40,000 tonnes of seed and the livestock industry imports up
to 360,000 tonnes of solvent extracted meal, mostly from
the United States. The baking industry uses another 14,000
tonnes of Australian grown, full-fat soy fl our.
“With the drought of 2002-2003, production has
dropped by 50%. Farmers have only planted the crops that
they could afford to irrigate. This year it was almost as
profi table to sell stored water as it was to plant and harvest a
fi eld of soybeans. In the irrigated cash crop regions, soybeans
are last on the list of preferred crops after cotton, corn, grain
sorghum, and sunfl owers.
“Phytophthora, white mold, mildew, and soybean
rust are major diseases, while insect pests are silverleaf
whitefl y, green veggie bug, aphids, scale bugs and mites.
Plant breeders are developing disease resistant varieties and
pest specialists are releasing parasitic insects, and creating
viral and fungal biopesticides. Plant breeders are selecting
white hilum varieties with good yield, agronomics and
natto and tofu characteristics. Many of the new varieties
have Canadian parents and are being tested in Asia with
favourable results.
“The Australian soybean industry is beginning to target
the same high value soyfood markets in Asia that Canada
has been focusing on for years. Australia has a ‘clean/green’