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

USDA, USA.
88. Nature (La) (Paris).1910. Fromages végétaux [Vegetable
cheeses]. 38(2, Supplement):134. Sept. 24. [Fre]
• Summary: A vegetable cheese is prepared from potatoes
by the peasants of Saxony and of Thuringia [both in eastern
Germany; Sachsen and Thueringen in German]. The “natto”
of the Japanese (Le “natto” des Japonais) is made from
soybeans. This type of beans (haricots) is boiled for about 5
hours then placed in little packets of straw. The packets are
placed in a cave, in the middle of which a fi re is lighted. The
cave is closed and after 24 hours the little cheeses are ready
to eat. Since the soybean contains a rather large quantity of
legumin, or vegetable casein, natto is rich in nitrogen, the
same as real cheese (it contains 7.3 to 7.5% nitrogen).
“The truth requires us to close by adding that we have
tried to make these cheeses [natto] without complete success.
The natto is easy to prepare, contains the usual quantity
of nitrogen, and has a suitable consistency. But it may be
because we used seeds imported from Korea, that is to say
rather old ones, that it has a very strong fl avor, like (by the
way) the soybean itself, that a European palate would not be
able to tolerate.” Address: France.
89. Friedenwald, Julius; Ruhräh, John. 1910. The use of the
soy bean as a food in diabetes. American J. of the Medical
Sciences 140:793-803. Dec. [9 ref. Eng]
• Summary: The article begins: “The soy bean (Glycine
hispida), sometimes incorrectly called the soja bean, is an
annual leguminous plant...” It continues with a brief but
accurate history of the soy bean in Europe and the USA, a
botanical description of the plant, examples of food uses
such as boiled whole dry soybeans, green vegetable soybeans
(“The beans are eaten as a vegetable, in soups, sometimes
picked green, boiled and served cold with a sprinkling of
soy sauce and sometimes served as a salad... If the beans
are green, the preliminary soaking may be omitted.”), soy
sauce or shoyu, natto, tofu, miso, yuba, a coffee substitute,
and whole dry soybeans. A brief description of the process
for making tofu is given, together with nutritional analyses
of tofu, and 4 varieties of soybeans. “The most striking
point about the bean is that it contains no starch, or, at least
a very small quantity, which is strange when one considers
it resembles the various beans very closely and all other
varieties of beans are extremely rich in starchy materials.”
An analysis of the “gruel fl our from the soy bean” made
by the Cereo Co., Tappan, New York, shows it to contain
14.64% protein, 19.43% fat, no starch, and no reducing
sugars. “Our own experience with the soy bean in diabetes
extends over a series of eight cases.” The 8 cases are then
described individually. Cooking directions and recipes are
given for making gruels, broths, and muffi ns using “soy
gruel fl our” or “soy fl our.”
The authors conclude: “(1) The soy bean is a valuable
© Copyright Soyinfo Center 2012
HISTORY OF NATTO AND ITS RELATIVES 61
addition to the dietary of the diabetic on account of its
palatability, and the numerous ways in which it can be
prepared. (2) The soy bean in some way causes a reduction in
the percentage and total quantity of sugar passed in diabetic
subjects on the usual dietary restrictions.” Address: 1. M.D.,
Prof. of Diseases of the Stomach, College of Physicians and
Surgeons, Baltimore, Maryland; 2. M.D., Prof. of Diseases
of Children and Therapeutics same college.
90. Lafar, Franz. 1910. Technical mycology: The utilization
of micro-organisms in the arts and manufactures. Vol. I.
Schizomycetic fermentation. Translated from the German
by Charles T.C. Salter. London: Charles Griffi n & Co. xvi +
312 p. Introduction by Dr. Emil Chr. Hansen (Principal of the
Carlsberg Laboratory, Copenhagen). Illust. (90 fi gs). Index is
in Vol. II. 23 cm. [Eng]
• Summary: This fi rst volume discusses bacterial
(“schizomycetic”) fermentations. Richly illustrated, it also
includes accurate historical background on many subjects.
An extensive bibliography for both this volume and volume
II appears at the back of volume II (p. 417-518).
The Preface, by Emil Chr. Hansen of Copenhagen,
states (p. vi): “Within the last two decades the study
of Microbiology has made gigantic strides, both in the
pathological and technical branches of the subject; and
just as investigations into the Physiology of the higher
plants gave the fi rst impetus to the establishment of
Agricultural Experiment Stations in all countries, so, in
like manner, have the Physiology of Fermentation and
Technical Bacteriology called into existence, within the
last few years, a number of Stations and Laboratories
for the development of those branches of industry where
micro-organisms play an important part.” The fi rst three
chapters, comprising the introduction, give an interesting
early history of the discovery of fermentation. Their
contents: 1. The theory of spontaneous generation:
Defi nition, discovery of fermentative organisms, Needham’s
demonstration in favour of ‘Generatio Æquivoca’,
Spallanzani’s experiments, Franz Schultze’s experiment,
foundation of the science of antiseptics by Schwann,
labours of Schröder and Dusch, Pasteur’s examination of
the theory, Béchamp’s microzyme theory, spontaneous
generation only unproven, not impossible. 2. Theories of
fermentation: The alchemists–Stahl’s theory of fermentation,
Gay-Lussac’s opinion, Cagniard-Latour’s vitalistic theory,
Th. Schwann’s researches, Fr. Kützing’s general theory,
Liebig’s decomposition theory, Pasteur’s theory. Nägeli’s
physico-molecular theory, the enzymes and M. Traube’s
ferment theory, general defi nition of fermentation, so-called
spontaneous fermentation of sweet fruits, decompositions
effected by light and air.
In Chapter 31, titled “The fermentation of cheese and
allied decompositions” (p. 243-52) are sections on “Pure
culture ferments” (p. 246-47) and “Natto and miso” (p. 247-