Am.  Jour.  Phariu.) 
November,  1W.  / 
Soy  Bean. 
591 
Japan  from  the  soy  bean.  These  are  natto,  tofu,  miso,  whose  prepa- 
ration has  already  been  described  in  this  Journal,  and  yuba  and 
shoyu. 
A  sort  of  film  forms  on  the  surface  of  soy-bean  milk  which  in 
appearance  suggests  cream.  This  material  is  sometimes  prepared  in 
quantity  by  evaporating  the  milk,  and  when  dried  it  is  used  as  an 
article  of  food  under  the  name  of  yuba. 
Shoyu  is  a  sauce  prepared  from  a  mixture  of  cooked  and  pulver- 
ized soy  beans,  roasted  and  pulverized  wheat,  wheat  flour,  salt,  and 
water.  The  mass  is  fermented  with  rice-wine  ferment  in  casks  for 
from  one  and  a  half  to  five  years,  being  very  frequently  stirred.  The 
resulting  product  is  a  moderately  thick  brown  liquid.  In  odor  and 
taste  it  is  not  unlike  a  good  quality  of  meat  extract,  though  perhaps 
a  trifle  more  pungent.  Under  the  name  of  soy  sauce  it  has  been 
known  in  India,  and  to  some  extent  in  Europe,  for  many  years. 
The  composition  of  each  of  the  above-described  foods  is  given  in 
the  following  table  : 
Soy-bean  food  products. 
Water. 
Protein. 
Fat. 
Nitrogen- 
free  ex- 
tract. 
Fiber. 
Ash. 
Per  cent. 
Per  cent 
Per  cent. 
Per  cent. 
Per  cent. 
Per  cent. 
89-00 
5  00 
3 '4° 
2  10 
0-50 
89-29 
4-87 
4  35 
0-48 
1870 
48-50 
28-50 
2'6o 
170 
Natto  
I5"32 
41-42 
23'65 
15-05 
1-48 
3-08 
21-85 
42  '60 
24-62 
7-65 
2-82 
5070 
570 
24 
40 
1260 
6-6o 
50-40 
10-08 
18 
77 
8-25 
12-50 
12-53 
26-43 
13-91 
I9'54 
1-41 
26-18 
Shoyu   
63-29 
8-31 
5-io 
19/45 
67-42 
7"37 
4-06 
17*47 
It  will  be  noticed  that  most  of  these  soy-bean  products  are  fer- 
mented;  that  is,  they  are  prepared  with  the  aid  of  microorganisms. 
The  cell  walls  and  other  carbohydrate  material  are  broken  down 
and  the  cell-contents  rendered  more  accessible  to  the  digestive 
juices,  and  at  the  same  time  peculiar  and  pleasant  flavors  are  devel- 
oped. The  special  microorganisms  used  in  the  preparation  of  these 
foods  have  been  studied  in  recent  years.    The  manufacture  of  these 
