140
8.7.1 Shoyu
One of the most familiar Asian food products is ‘soya sauce’ (shoyu or soy sauce)
made by mixed cooked soybeans and wheat flour (Archer 2000; Dunn-Coleman
et al. 1991), which is then pressed into cakes and inoculated with Aspergillus oryzae. The mixture of salt and water produced the moulded cake known as ‘koji’ and
is referred to as the ‘moromi’ which is then inoculated with a bacterium, Pediococcus
soyae, and yeasts Saccharomyces rouxii and Torulopsis sp., to ferment the mixture
for approximately 6 months to turn into soy sauce.
8.7.2 Miso
The Japanese word ‘miso’ is used for fermented soybean paste used as a flavouring
agent not usually consumed by itself, but as a base for soup (Pariza and Johnson
2001; Feng et al. 2007). ‘Miso’ fermentation consists of washed, polished rice,
which is steamed and inoculated with Aspergillus oryzae resulting in ‘rice koji’ followed by the digestion of the carbohydrates and proteins of the inoculated rice to
sugars and amino acids by the fungus. The ‘rice koji’ is then inoculated by yeasts
and bacteria and allowed to ferment.
8.7.3 Indonesian Tempeh
Fermentation of partially cooked soybean cotyledons with Rhizopus oligosporus
leads to the production of a white cake known as Indonesian tempeh. This product
has been used as a meat substitute and is on an increase of being widely sold into
the vegetarian market. This was produced using the fungus which binds the soybean
mass into a protein-rich cake (Feng et al. 2007).
There are a variety of such fermented products. One such product is ‘angkak’
which is a rice product popular in China and the Philippines, which is fermented
using Monascus species. The characteristic pigments and ethanol which are used for
red rice wine and food colouring are produced using Monascus purpureus. A mixture of red, yellow and purple polyketides is present in the pigments and about ten
times more pigments are obtained from solid state fermentation than from submerged liquid fermentation (Moore et al. 2001).
8.8 Conclusion
Strong upsurge of fungal community in the field of food, feed and therapeutics leads
to the development of research initiatives aimed for the development of industrial
processes focusing on the production fungal-based food products, food supplements
A. Singh et al.
8.7.1 Shoyu
One of the most familiar Asian food products is ‘soya sauce’ (shoyu or soy sauce)
made by mixed cooked soybeans and wheat flour (Archer 2000; Dunn-Coleman
et al. 1991), which is then pressed into cakes and inoculated with Aspergillus oryzae. The mixture of salt and water produced the moulded cake known as ‘koji’ and
is referred to as the ‘moromi’ which is then inoculated with a bacterium, Pediococcus
soyae, and yeasts Saccharomyces rouxii and Torulopsis sp., to ferment the mixture
for approximately 6 months to turn into soy sauce.
8.7.2 Miso
The Japanese word ‘miso’ is used for fermented soybean paste used as a flavouring
agent not usually consumed by itself, but as a base for soup (Pariza and Johnson
2001; Feng et al. 2007). ‘Miso’ fermentation consists of washed, polished rice,
which is steamed and inoculated with Aspergillus oryzae resulting in ‘rice koji’ followed by the digestion of the carbohydrates and proteins of the inoculated rice to
sugars and amino acids by the fungus. The ‘rice koji’ is then inoculated by yeasts
and bacteria and allowed to ferment.
8.7.3 Indonesian Tempeh
Fermentation of partially cooked soybean cotyledons with Rhizopus oligosporus
leads to the production of a white cake known as Indonesian tempeh. This product
has been used as a meat substitute and is on an increase of being widely sold into
the vegetarian market. This was produced using the fungus which binds the soybean
mass into a protein-rich cake (Feng et al. 2007).
There are a variety of such fermented products. One such product is ‘angkak’
which is a rice product popular in China and the Philippines, which is fermented
using Monascus species. The characteristic pigments and ethanol which are used for
red rice wine and food colouring are produced using Monascus purpureus. A mixture of red, yellow and purple polyketides is present in the pigments and about ten
times more pigments are obtained from solid state fermentation than from submerged liquid fermentation (Moore et al. 2001).
8.8 Conclusion
Strong upsurge of fungal community in the field of food, feed and therapeutics leads
to the development of research initiatives aimed for the development of industrial
processes focusing on the production fungal-based food products, food supplements
A. Singh et al.