history of soy yogurt, soy acidophilus milk and other ... - SoyInfo Center

extent of coagulation, reduction of litmus, acid production,
and peptonization. A table shows the results.
“Soybean milk serves as a excellent culture medium for
the propagation of the organisms studied.” After 48 hours
the pH for soybean milk was lower (more acidic) than that
for cow’s milk when cultured with the following organisms:
L. bulgaricus (3.85 vs. 4.60 at 37ºC), S. lactis (4.13 vs. 4.30
at 21ºC), A. aerogenes (5.0 vs. 5.10 at 37ºC), L. acidophilus
(3.60 vs. 4.10 at 37ºC). The cell size of L. acidophilus was
larger in soybean milk than in cow’s milk. “Growth of L.
bulgaricus in soybean litmus milk showed that coagulation
occurred more rapidly, whereas in litmus milk acid
production and litmus reduction were more pronounced.”
Address: Dep. of Bacteriology, The Ohio State Univ.,
Columbus, Ohio.
175. Gehrke, Charles W.; Weiser, Harry H. 1948.
A comparative study of the biochemical activity of
Streptococcus lactis, S. citrovorus, and S. paracitrovorus
when grown in cow’s milk and soybean milk. J. of Dairy
Science 31(4):213-22. April. [17 ref]
• Summary: These three microorganisms are widely used
to culture butter. “Soybean or vegetable milk is used
extensively throughout Japan and China for infant feeding as
well as for adults.” The introduction of soybean milk to the
American people has occurred only recently. Soybean milk
has been manufactured in the form of a powder. It has been
used with good results... especially in those countries that
fi nd it cheaper to use a vegetable milk... The development by
butter organisms of diacetyl [which is partially responsible
for the aroma of butter] and related compounds in vegetable
milk and products made from it may be desirable from a
commercial standpoint.”
The butter cultures were obtained from the Department
of Dairy Industry, Iowa State College, Ames. The
soybean milk was obtained from Harry Miller, Director
of the International Nutrition Laboratory, Mt. Vernon,
Ohio. Cow’s milk and soybean milk were inoculated
and incubated, then measurements of the following were
taken at regular intervals up to 216 hours: pH, titratable
acidity, volatile acidity, and Mg Ni salt. The production of
acetylmethylcarbinol (AMC) and diacetyl in soybean milk
by butter culture organisms was not evident until after an
incubation period of 48 hours; however, upon incubation of
cultured soybean milk for 168 to 216 hours, larger amounts
of the fl avor and aroma compounds were produced in
soybean milk than in cow’s milk. “The values obtained for
the titratable acidity in cow’s milk and cow’s milk to which
0.15 per cent citric acid had been added were nearly twice as
great as those secured for the soybean milk. Address: Dep. of
Bacteriology, The Ohio State Univ., Columbus, Ohio.
176. Fairchild, David. 1948. Early experiences with the
soybean. Soybean Digest. Nov. p. 14-15. [2 ref]
HISTORY OF SOY YOGURT & CULTURED SOYMILK 93
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• Summary: “It was not until 1897 that I fi rst saw soybeans
growing... I found my friend Merton B. Waite had been
trying to grow soybeans on his farm outside Washington
[DC, in Maryland; see Fairchild, Oct. 1948], but with little
success. They had been sent in by some American consul
or missionary, I believe. At about the same time Dr. George
T. Moore [who by 1903 was Physiologist in Charge of the
Lab. of Plant Physiology, Bureau of Plant Industry, USDA,
working on soybean root bacteria] in working on the root
nodules of leguminous plants had discovered that the nodules
contained bacteria. Waite and I talked over the matter of the
failure of his soybeans and wondered if they might require
special bacteria, so I wrote out to Japan and imported several
pounds of soil from a soybean fi eld.
“We made a little experiment, planting alternate rows of
soybeans with and without the addition of this Tokyo soil.
The effect of the imported soil was immediately apparent as
the plants grown in it made a far better growth and had their
roots covered with bacterial nodules, whereas the control
were practically without any.
“Photographs had yet to come into any general use as
records of agricultural experiments, but Waite had taken up
photography as a hobby and made excellent photographs
with his stand camera. So at harvest time he pulled up an
equal number of soybean plants from the soil-treated rows
and from the controls, and the only photographic record
in existence of this little experiment (the fi rst of its kind, I
suppose, in the world) is this negative taken by Waite in the
autumn of 1897.
“Although these experiments did not at the time lead
to more extensive trials, they indicate the awakening of our
interest in soybeans.
“In that fall of 1897 it was my privilege to organize the
offi ce of plant introduction in the Department of Agriculture.
We began introducing a great number of different kinds of
plants, among them, as I see from our inventories printed
at the time, occasional small collections of soybeans from
China and Japan. They were obtained mostly through
correspondence with missionaries and consuls stationed
there.
“At that time the Department had no testing ground near
Washington where we could grow miscellaneous vegetables,
including these soybean collections. It was not until several
years had passed that facilities were provided on the socalled
‘Potomac Flats’ [in Washington, DC] and James H.
Beattie, an enthusiastic young horticulturist, took over the
planting of our introduced seeds.
“The soybeans did well and Beattie soon had on his
hands a quantity of seeds. But we didn’t know just what to
do with these strange beans. When cooked in the way other
beans were prepared they had a strange fl avor that nobody
seemed to like...
“It was not, I think, until the offi ce of forage crop
investigations was organized and C.V. Piper took charge