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Science captures a chinese art
24
CURRENT ToPIcs.
[J. F. I.
Science Captures a Chinese Art.--In China the making of soya sauce is mainly a household art, with grandmothers passirlg along to daughters and granddaughters the details of recipes and the strains of ferments used in the process. In the United States, soya sauce--as is true of many other food products-is chiefly a factory product. Each manufacturer is concerned not only with producing a sauce of high quality, but also a standardized sauce in which each batch will have the flavor, color, and taste of every other batch. This calls for standardization of the raw materials and for use of standard strains of microorganisms in the fermentation of the sauce. The U. S. Department of Agriculture has announced that strains of four organisms desirable in preparing soya sauce have been added to the culture collection of industrial ferments at the Northern Regional Research Laboratory at Peoria, Ill. These include two molds, a yeast, and a bacterium. They will be maintained as pure cultures and will be available to industrial users. This makes it possible for a fermenter to make a fresh start with new and pure cultures, if at any time his stock cultures become contaminated with "wild" molds or yeasts that injure the quality or uniformity of his product. The Fermentation Division of the Bureau of Agricultural and Industrial Chemistry credits Mr. Pei Sung King of the National Bureau of Industrial Research, Chungking, China, with aid in selecting the strains of organisms and standardizing a process of fermentation that yields a high-quality sauce. Mr. King has been a guest worker at the Northern Laboratory, and suggested various methods of fermentation which the scientists tested and compared in working out the method they now recommend to manufacturers. It is not practical for home use or for small quantities of sauce. The preparation of soya sauce calls for a brine fermentation of the beans for from 30 to 90 days. But the "starter" used in this process is a mixture of three previously prepared cultures; (1) of a mold that develops on cooked rice; (2) of a yeast working on soya broth; and (3) of a bacterial fermentation of soya broth. For a quality product these should be mixed at the right stage of development in suitable proportions. R. H. O.
CURRENT ToPIcs.
[J. F. I.
Science Captures a Chinese Art.--In China the making of soya sauce is mainly a household art, with grandmothers passirlg along to daughters and granddaughters the details of recipes and the strains of ferments used in the process. In the United States, soya sauce--as is true of many other food products-is chiefly a factory product. Each manufacturer is concerned not only with producing a sauce of high quality, but also a standardized sauce in which each batch will have the flavor, color, and taste of every other batch. This calls for standardization of the raw materials and for use of standard strains of microorganisms in the fermentation of the sauce. The U. S. Department of Agriculture has announced that strains of four organisms desirable in preparing soya sauce have been added to the culture collection of industrial ferments at the Northern Regional Research Laboratory at Peoria, Ill. These include two molds, a yeast, and a bacterium. They will be maintained as pure cultures and will be available to industrial users. This makes it possible for a fermenter to make a fresh start with new and pure cultures, if at any time his stock cultures become contaminated with "wild" molds or yeasts that injure the quality or uniformity of his product. The Fermentation Division of the Bureau of Agricultural and Industrial Chemistry credits Mr. Pei Sung King of the National Bureau of Industrial Research, Chungking, China, with aid in selecting the strains of organisms and standardizing a process of fermentation that yields a high-quality sauce. Mr. King has been a guest worker at the Northern Laboratory, and suggested various methods of fermentation which the scientists tested and compared in working out the method they now recommend to manufacturers. It is not practical for home use or for small quantities of sauce. The preparation of soya sauce calls for a brine fermentation of the beans for from 30 to 90 days. But the "starter" used in this process is a mixture of three previously prepared cultures; (1) of a mold that develops on cooked rice; (2) of a yeast working on soya broth; and (3) of a bacterial fermentation of soya broth. For a quality product these should be mixed at the right stage of development in suitable proportions. R. H. O.