SOY AND RELATED FERMENTATIONS. 15 
salt was used to form the brine solution. In Japan sea salt is used. 
It is said that one part of the sea salt to two parts of water by volume 
gives a brine of from 20° to 22° B., presumably because of the coarse- 
ness of the native Japanese sea salt. 
Ripening. 
The first experiment in shoyu making conducted in the Bureau of 
Chemistry provided three tubs or half barrels of moromi. Two 
(A and B) were kept at the average temperature of the laboratories, 
20° to 24° C. These two tubs contained shoyu-moromi made from a 
brine with an original salt content slightly greater than 22° B. 
The third tub (C) contained at the start a mash formed from a 
brine having a salt content just under 20° B. and was held at a 
temperature between 25° and 27° C. These mashes were stirred daily 
for a period of one hour. Also a blast of air was bubbled into the 
material in order to supply oxygen for the microorganisms present. 
Small portions of each mash were pressed during the course of a 10 
months ripening period, in order to extract the sauce for examina- 
tion. An idea of the progress of the fermentation was thus secured. 
After the ripening was considered as completed, the entire mash was 
pressed in each of the three batches. No heat was applied to the 
mashes or to the extracted sauces. 
Quality. 
The three samples of shoyu secured by pressing the three lots of 
shoyu-moromi were subjected to chemical analysis and judged for 
flavor and taste. The quality of shoyu has an intimate connection 
with the method of fermentation. According to Japanese scientists, 
after the moromi fermentation or the ripening in brine is over, 
alcohol and esters are formed. An excess of acids is also removed, 
if the process is conducted in a proper manner, the organisms 
involved in the moromi fermentation consuming the larger part of 
any unpalatable nitrogenous matter present in the mash (21). 
Mash C, having the weaker brine as a component part and kept 
at a higher temperature, produced an unattractive shoyu, even after 
ripening for nine or ten months. Not only was its flavor weak and 
unattractive, but it had none of the taste- characteristic of Japanese 
shoyu. The keeping qualities of the shoyu from mash C were not 
satisfactory. The flavor deteriorated on standing at room tempera- 
ture. The shoyu from both mash A and mash B was superior to 
that from mash C. The keeping quality was satisfactory in both 
shoyu A and shoyu B. The flavor and taste of these two lots of 
shoyu was neither universally approved nor condemned. As shoyu 
I> was rather mediocre as compared with shoyu A, criticism was 
centered on A alone. Samples of A were sent to several Japanese 
scientists for comparison with Japanese shoyu which they considered 
acceptable. 
Samples were given to Japanese visiting the laboratory and to 
others interested in soy products and sauces whenever opportunity 
presented itself. Doctor Takahashi stated that shoyu A compared 
favorably with the best commercial shoyu of Japan, while others 
