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

101. New York Times.1912. Gives out secrets of making
ammonia. Sept. 12. p. 6.
• Summary: An overview of the Eighth International
Congress of Applied Chemistry, held in New York City at the
Horace Mann Auditorium.
The section titled “Natto, a cheese” states: “S.
Muramatsu of the College of Agriculture, Morioka, Japan,
read an interesting paper on natto. Natto is a vegetable
cheese much used in Japan. It is made by fermenting boiled
soya beans wrapped in rice straw and set in a warm cellar
for one or two days. It is consumed as ‘an accessory,’
(by which Dr. Muramatsu apparently means a relish or
condiment,) after having been mixed with table salt and
several stimulants ‘amongst others the powdered mustard is
preferred.’
“It is, according to the Doctor, a very good and
economical foodstuff, rich in protein, and particularly
valuable to the Japanese because of their large dependance
on rice, which is almost entirely carbohydrate.”
102. Li, Yu-ying; Grandvoinnet, L. 1912. Le soja: Sa
culture. Ses usages alimentaires, thérapeutiques, agricoles et
industriels [The soybean: Its culture. Its food, therapeutic,
agricultural, and industrial uses]. Paris: Augustin Challamel
(Rue Jacob 17). 150 p. Illust. Index. 25 cm. Translated into
French and expanded from the Chinese edition, published
by la Societé Biologique d’Extréme-Orient (1910). [151 ref.
Fre]
• Summary: One of the earliest, most important, infl uential,
creative, interesting, and carefully researched books ever
written about soybeans and soyfoods. Its bibliography on soy
was larger than any published prior to that time. It was fi rst
published as a series of eight articles in Agriculture Pratique
des Pays Chauds (Bulletin du Jardin Colonial) from
September 1911 to April 1912. Before being published as a
book, it was revised slightly by adding a table of contents at
the back, dividing the material into 5 parts with 19 chapters,
and adding several photos (p. 16-17), a world map showing
the distribution of soybean cultivation (p. 21), and an
interesting 2-page table (p. 66-67).
Contents: The soybean: Origin and history. Part I:
Soybean culture. 1. Species and varieties of soybeans:
Botanical characteristics, species, varieties (Chinese,
Japanese, Indian, Indochinese, Hawaiian, USA, European).
2. Needs of the soybean: Climatic, geographical area of
the soybean by region worldwide, agrological/soil needs,
fertilizers, soil preparation, the place of the soybean in crop
rotations. 3. Soybean seeds: Study of seeds (by weight,
by germination rate, selection of seeds), time of planting,
plant spacing, depth of seeding, rate of seeding per hectare,
method of seeding (broadcasting, in rows, in mounds).
4. The soybean during its vegetative stage: Germination,
transplanting, types of care (e.g., second dressings),
irrigation, fl owering and fruiting, enemies of the soybean
© Copyright Soyinfo Center 2012
HISTORY OF NATTO AND ITS RELATIVES 67
(e.g., insects). 5. Harvest of soybeans: Time for harvest
(forage or grain), methods of harvesting (forage or grain;
mechanical mower), threshing (use of machine), yields of
soybeans (forage and grain in various countries, ratio of
seeds harvested to straw is about 1 to 2, yield of nutrients).
6. Fixation of atmospheric nitrogen by soybeans, and
improvement of the soil. 7. The soybean in mixed cultures
and alternate rows: With corn, cowpeas, rice, sweet sorghum,
or millet.
Part II: Chemical composition of the soybean. 1.
Composition of the plant: Minerals in the leaves and
total plant. 2. Study of the seed: Composition, chemical
composition, microscopic comparisons, table of analyses by
28 previous researchers, albumins, sugars, starch, dextrin or
dextrine, diastase, lipids, ash/minerals.
Part III: The soybean as human food and animal feed.
1. The soybean as feed for animals: Green forage and hay.
2. The soybean in human feeding: From the viewpoints of
physiology, economy, and gastronomy. The role of soya in
special diets: Vegetarianism, remineralization, diabetic, and
lactose intolerant.
Part IV: Food products based on soya. 1. Soymilk and
its derivatives: Soymilk (Methods of manufacture, Chinese
and modern at l’Usine de la Caséo-Sojaïne, nature and
properties [physical and chemical] and composition of the
milk, action of ferments and diastases (enzymes) on the
milk, uses of the milk, the residue from the soy dairy [okara],
condensed soymilk, powdered soymilk, fermented soymilk
(kefi r, yogurt, etc.)), tofu (called Caséo-Sojaïne, or fromage
de soya; methods of production, coagulants, yield of tofu,
storing tofu, composition and comparison with various
meats, digestibility, culinary preparations made from tofu
(smoked tofu, tofu pâté, tofu sausages)), Soy casein (food
and industrial uses). 2. Soy fl our and its derivatives: Soy
fl our, soy bread, wholemeal bread, other products based
on soy fl our (as biscuits and cakes for diabetic diets). 3.
Soy oil and its by-products: Soy oil, physical and chemical
properties, usage, residue of the oil mill: the cake, price,
uses. 4. Use of the soybean as a legume: Whole soybeans
(composition and digestibility), soy sprouts (germes de soja),
green vegetable soybeans (le soja frais). 5. Fermented soy
condiments: Solid condiments from Japan: Tokyo natto (Le
Tokio-Natto) and Ping-Ming natto or tao-tche (Le Ping-ming-
Natto; fermented black soybeans with salt, ginger, orange
rind, etc. A similar product is made in China and called taotche).
Paste condiments: Miso (four types and composition),
tao-tjung (Chinese miso). Sauces: Shoyu (its production,
varieties, properties, composition), chiang-yu (tsiang-yeou),
ketjap [kechap, from Java], tuong (from Annam, with rice or
corn), tao-yu (widely used in China and Japan, described by
Prinsen Geerligs). 6. Confectionery products: Comparison
with chestnuts, roasted soy fl our to replace chocolate. 7. Soy
coffee (with analysis by Kornauth). 8. Special fermented
products: Kiu-tsee (a special commercial ferment from