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

159. Oshima, Kokichi. 1923. Kôji-kin nado no denpun
tôkaso oyobi tanpakushitsu bunkai kôso no teiryô-teki
sokutei-hô [A quantitative estimation of starch saccharifying
enzyme and proteolytic enzyme of koji mold]. Jozogaku
Zasshi (J. of Brewing, Osaka) 1(3):204-18. Oct. [Jap]
Address: Hokkaido Teikoku Daigaku, Jokyoju, Japan.
160. Oshima, Kokichi. 1923. Kôji-kin nado no denpun tôka
kôso oyobi tanpakushitsu bunkai kôso ryoku no teiryô-hô [A
method for determining the starch saccharifying enzyme and
proteolytic enzyme activity of koji mold]. Kogyo Kagaku
Zasshi (J. of the Chemical Society of Japan, Industrial
Chemistry Section) 26:685-98. [Jap]
Address: Hokkaido Daigaku Suisan Senmon-bu, Kagaku
Kyoshitsu, Nôgaku-shi.
161. Bergey, David H.; Harrison, F.C.; Breed, R.S.;
Hammer, B.W.; Huntoon, F.M. 1923. Bergey’s manual of
determinative bacteriology: A key for the identifi cation of
organisms of the class schizomycetes 1st ed. Baltimore,
Maryland: The Williams & Wilkins Company. xxii + 461 p.
See p. 278-79. 2nd ed. 1925. [1 ref]
• Summary: Bacillus subtilis is described on pages 278-79.
No mention is made of natto; moreover Bacillus natto, the
natto bacterium, is not mentioned.
162. Bottari, Fulvio. 1923. La soja nella storia,
nell’agricoltura e nelle applicazioni alimentari ed industriali
[The soybean in history, in agriculture, and in food and
industrial applications]. Torino & Genova, Italy: S. Lattes &
Co. 243 p. Preface by Prof. Oreste Mattriolo (R. Università
di Torino). With 34 illust. 22 cm. [25 ref. Ita]
• Summary: Contents: Preface. Reason for the work;
its scope and limits. Part I: The origin and history of the
soybean. Reason for this history, the origin of the soybean
and its early dissemination, soya (including production
statistics) in Oriental countries (China, Manchuria, Japan,
Formosa, Korea, French Indochina), how the soybean was
introduced to Europe, the cultivation of soya in France, Soya
in England, Austria, Germany, Denmark, Holland, Russia,
Sweden, Alsace-Lorraine (now in northeast France), Spain,
Italy, America, Conclusion.
Part II: Cultivation of soya. Part III: Soya in the feeding
and nutrition of humans and animals. 1. The analysis and
physiology of metabolism as an element in the study of
nutrition. 2. Soybean forage in the feeding of animals. 3.
Soybeans (il grano di soja) and soy products in the feeding
of humans and animals. 4. Flour, pasta, and bread in feeding.
5. Soymilk (il latte di soja) and its use in the feeding of
animals and humans. 6. Tofu (il formaggio di soja). 7. Soy
oil and oil-cakes (panelli). 8. Condiments and sauces: Natto,
miso, soy sauce. 9. Enzymes (I fermenti, incl. urease). 10.
Conclusions.
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HISTORY OF NATTO AND ITS RELATIVES 97
Part IV: Industrial applications of soya.
Part V: General conclusions.
The fi rst test of the lactation of calves with soymilk was
conducted in the winter of 1916-17 by the Bonafous Institute
in Turin. The results were splendid, and have encouraged
eminent pediatricians such as Dr. Casalini, Prof. Dr. Alberto
Muggia (teacher of clinical pediatrics at the University of
Turin), and Dr. Enrico Gasca (vice director general of infants
at Turin) to extend their experiments (p. 6).
In Italy vegetable oil production has decreased steadily
from 1870 to 1920. Attempts were made to grow sesame,
peanuts, and rapeseed, and to import oils from abroad.
During World War I, unrefi ned soy oil was introduced to
the market in large quantities, but its unappealing taste
disgusted consumers and for a while nothing more was heard
of it. Then in 1921 it began to be introduced again, but this
time it was refi ned at Italy’s national oil works. The good
results obtained encouraged the Italian oil milling company,
Sairo, and other oil works to make great progress in soy oil
production. Several thousand quintals (i.e. several hundred
metric tons) of the best soy oil, sold under the name “refi ned
oil from seeds,” were introduced in the fi rst half of 1922 by
the national oil works of Genoa.
Returning to the early history of soya in Italy, we fi nd
that in 1848 some missionaries brought soybean seeds and a
little soil to Italy from Japan. They waited for the cultivation
for several years, then nothing else was said. In 1880 the
Italian Ministry of Agriculture recommended the cultivation
of soybeans as a fodder crop for the future, as was being
done in the USA, but their suggestion received no attention.
In 1918, according to Mattei, a test of soybean culture was
done at the Colonial Garden of Palermo on a parcel of 300
square meters.
Since 1912, after seeds had been brought by foreign
delegates to the International Exhibition at Turin in 1911,
repeated experiments with soybean cultivation have been
conducted at the Bonafous Agricultural Institute in Turin,
with the goal of developing two well adapted varieties, one
for fodder and one for seed. Their green variety is for fodder
and their yellow one for seed.
From 1920 the directorship of the cultural work was
given to the head professor at the Institute, Venanzio
Manvilli, also professor of the Germano Sommeiller
Technical Institute, professor the faculty of agriculture,
University of Turin. They worked with seeds already
selected from the institute and with those obtained from Prof.
Don Ricaldone, and from Tientsin, China, directly. Others
who have done important work with soya in Italy are Paolo
Bottari (with soymilk at the Bonafous Institute), Tamanini
Guido, Mossello and Bellia, Prof. Cav. Giov. Batt. Allaria,
Dr. Mose Miccinelli
A table (p. 31) shows soybean and cotton hectarage and
production in Korea from 1909 to 1917. Soybean hectarage
increased from 277,776 ha to a record 487,134 ha. Soybean