• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.3 no.4
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• pp.270-276
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• 1993

We characterized the character impact compounds of flavors of the fermented Korean soy sauce manufactured with both the traditional and the improved Meju made with different strains. The whole flavor samples were obtained by extracting each volatile flavor phase from both the traditional and the improved soy sauce. To get more detailed information, each whole volatile flavor was further fractionated into the basic, acidic, phenolic and neutral fractions. Each separated peak from the whole and fractionated flavor samples on gas chromatogram was identified by GC/MS and Kovat s retention index, and likewise the aroma of each peak was investigated by a sniffing test with the exercised panel. We were able to identify 15 groups of ingredients with the characteristic soy sauce aroma from the soy sauce made with the traditional Meju and 6 groups from the soy sauce manufactured with the improved Meju made with Aspergillus oryzae. The character impact compounds the two soy sauces were different from each other.

• Preventive Nutrition and Food Science
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.165-173
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• 2011

Five types of meju were prepared from 100% defatted soybean (DFSG0), a mixture of 90% DFS and 10% glasswort (DFSG1), a mixture of 80% DFS and 20% glasswort (DFSG2), a mixture of 70% DFS and 30% glasswort (DFSG3), and a mixture of 60% DFS and 40% glasswort (DFSG4). Five types of kanjang were separately prepared from the 5 types of meju by ripening in brine for 6 months. The contents of certain minerals (Mg, Ca, Fe, Mn, and Zn), organic acids (citric acid, malic acid) and the antioxidative effects in the kanjang were increased in proportion to the glasswort content in the meju. However, the free amino acid contents in the kanjang were reduced in proportion to the glasswort content in the meju. DFSG1- and DFSG2-kanjang did not show distinct differences from DFSG0-kanjang based on aroma, flavor, and taste that were compared simply by panel tests. The bacterial and fungal community in the fermented meju and kanjang was not affected by the addition of glasswort to the meju-making process. Bacteria belonging to the Lactobacillus and Bacillus genera and the Lactobacillus family predominated, and yeasts belonging to the Saccharomyces genus and fungi belonging to the Aspergillus genus predominated in the fermented meju and kanjang. In conclusion, the glasswort was a supplement that nutritionally improved the kanjang (except for free amino acid contents) but didn't influence the growth of microorganisms that are responsible for the fermentation of meju and kanjang.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.21 no.12
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• pp.1270-1279
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• 2011

Bealmijang is a short-term aged paste made from meju, which is a brick of fermented soybeans and other ingredients. Different types of bealmijang are available depending on the geographic region or ingredients used. However, no study has clarified the microbial diversity of these types. We identified 17 and 14 fungal species from black soybean meju (BSM) and buckwheat meju (BWM), respectively, on the basis of morphology, culture characteristics, and internal transcribed spacer and ${\beta}$-tubulin gene sequencing. In both meju, Aspergillus oryzae, Rhizopus oryzae, Penicillium polonicum, P. steckii, Cladosporium tenuissimum, C. cladosporioides, C. uredinicola, and yeast species Pichia burtonii were commonly found. Moreover, A. flavus, A. niger, P. crustosum, P. citrinum, Eurotium niveoglaucum, Absidia corymbifera, Setomelanomma holmii, Cladosporium spp. and unclassified species were identified from BSM. A. clavatus, Mucor circinelloides, M. racemosus, P. brevicompactum, Davidiella tassiana, and Cladosporium spp. were isolated from BWM. Fast growing Zygomycetous fungi is considered important for the early stage of meju fermentation, and A. oryae and A. niger might play a pivotal role in meju fermentation owing to their excellent enzyme productive activities. It is supposed that Penicillium sp. and Pichia burtonii could contribute to the flavor of the final food products. Identification of this fungal diversity will be useful for understanding the microbiota that participate in meju fermentation, and these fungal isolates can be utilized in the fermented foods and biotechnology industries.

• Food Science and Preservation
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.315-320
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• 2002

In order to improve some problems such as contamination of undesirable mold, mycotoxin production and excessive drying on the surface of traditional meju. Control meju without koji and capsule type meju(CM) coated with soybean mixture containing 0.5%, 1% and 2%(w/w) R. oligosporus koji were dried at room temperature (10∼15$^{\circ}C$) for 3 days. Control meju I was fermented in outdoor for 27 days. Control meju IIand CMs were fermented in Korean yellow clay room at 25$^{\circ}C$ for 7 days under 80% relative humidity as first step, and then fermented in outdoor (average temp. 2.7$^{\circ}C$, December) for 20 days as second step. The moisture content of CMs were higher than that of control meju I to the range of 2.88∼7.55%(w/w). pH and titratable acidity in CMs were similar to control group. Amino type nitrogen content in CMs(800.80, 816.0, 901.60 mg%) were 2.2∼2.6 times higher than that in control meju I (347.2 mg%). Reducing sugar content in CMs(2.78∼3.13%) was similar to control meiu I (2.10%) and control meju H(2.31%). Lightness(L) value of control meju I was higher than that of control meju IIand CMs.

• The Korean Journal of Food And Nutrition
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• v.29 no.5
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• pp.670-676
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• 2016

In this study, we analyzed the utensils, covers and mats that were used for making meju, the shape of meju, and the heating method used for making meju from the 225 ways of preparing jang mentioned in the 32 volumes of the ancient cook books from 530 AD to 1950. The heating method of traditional meju bean and starch included 57 kinds of steaming, 59 of boiling, 21 of roasting + boiling, and 2 of cooking. The shape of meju included 41 kinds of egg, 27 of ball, 22 of lump, a kind of doughnut, 8 kinds of hilt, 6 of flat, 4 of chip, and a kind of square. Among the 72 gochoojang meju, the heating method of bean included 9 kinds of boiling, and 6 kinds of steaming; whereas the heating method of starch included 19 kinds of steaming of dough, 11 of rice cooking, and 5 of boiling of dough. The utensils for molding of bean meju were 49 kinds of straw sack, 14 of round straw container, 11 of heating bed, 7 of large straw bowl or Japanese-snailseed, 5 of jar, 4 of ditch, 3 of straw bowls, 2 of pottery steamer of dough, 2 of gourd, and a kind of long round bamboo bowl and sack of straw. The cover and the mat used for molding of meju included 36 kinds of straw, 17 kinds of paper mulberry leaf, 15 of wide straw seat, 14 of mugwort, 11 of pine tree leaf, 10 of soybean leaf, 6 of cocklebur leaf, 6 of sumac leaf, 6 of barley straw, 6 of mulberry leaf, 5 of fallen leaf, 5 of cogon grass, 4 of reed seat, 3 of scrap of cloth, 2 of Indian bean tree leaf, a kind of reed. There were only 5 kinds of hanging.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.876-883
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• 1989

In order to investigate the index component and basis for the shelf-life of the grain share improved Meju, the effect of the storage time and package on the quality of Meju and soy sauce were studied during 90 days storage at $30^{\circ}C$. Also, sensory evaluation for the soy sauces from Meju with various storage time were carried out. During the storage period, moisture content, amylase and protease activity were decreased, on the other hand, the contents of amino-nitrogen and ammonia-nitrogen were increased. Among these components, protease activity was found the major index component for quality control because it was the most important component for soy sauce fermentation and the most changeable component of Meju during the storage period. According to the sensory test, the quality of soy sauce was agreed well with the protease activity of Meju, and the soy sauce from longer storage Meju was inferior organoleptic quality to that from shorter Meju. By the storage quality test, protease activity showed the highest value in 15 days storage Meju and decreased gradually with storage time passed. The basis of protease activity for quality control was 200 (O.D. at 660 nm/g). which was 50% of the initial activity And it was known that the shelf-life of the grain shape improved Meju was about 90 days . It was also shown that the storage in package did not affect noticeably to prolong the shelf-life of Meju on this study.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.12-18
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• 1976

Fermented soybean Mejus were prepared in the laboratory with varying lengths of fermentation and the changes in the Chemical composition during the Meju making were determined. The moisture of cooked soybean was gradually evaporated during the Meju fermentation, and after 2 months of fermentation the water level reached to the level of the raw soybean. The concentrations of crude fat, crude protein and ash of the dry matter of soybean did not change considerably during soaking, cooking and Meju fermentation of up to 3 months, whereas carbohyrates decreased significantly during soaking and Meju fermentation. The percentage retention of the nutrients were 58% for carbohydrates and 93% for crude fat and crude protein. The nitrogen solubility of soybean decreased drastically during cooking, from 79% to 21%, while Meju fermentation increased it to approximately 30% in the first week and this level remained constant for the duration of the fermentation. The concentration of free amino nitrogen in total nitrogen of soybean decreased during cooking, from 7% to 3%, but fermentation of Meju liberated it to the level of raw soybean. The concentration of free amino-nitrogen in the total-N of soybean was increased by cooking and further increased during Meju fermentation. The amino acid pattern of soybean did not change significantly during soaking, cooking and the Meju fermentation up to 3 months. Serine and the basic amino acids, lysine, arginine and histidine, decreased to the range $81{\sim}87%$ of the raw soybean during the first month of Meju fermentation and thereafter remained almost constant. The total amino acid per 16g nitrogen was 99 g incooked soybean and 93 g in 1 month Meju, indicating a 6% reduction.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.23 no.12
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• pp.1654-1663
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• 2013

Rice straw is closely associated with meju fermentation and it is generally known that the rice straw provides meju with many kinds of microorganisms. In order to elucidate the origin of meju fungi, the fungal diversity of rice straw was examined. Rice straw was collected from 12 Jang factories where meju are produced, and were incubated under nine different conditions by altering the media (MEA, DRBC, and DG18), and temperature ($15^{\circ}C$, $25^{\circ}C$, and $35^{\circ}C$). In total, 937 strains were isolated and identified as belonging to 39 genera and 103 species. Among these, Aspergillus, Cladosporium, Eurotium, Fusarium, and Penicillium were the dominant genera. Fusarium asiaticum (56.3%), Cladosporium cladosporioides (48.6%), Aspergillus tubingensis (37.5%), A. oryzae (31.9%), Eurotium repens (27.1%), and E. chevalieri (25.0%) were frequently isolated from the rice straw obtained from many factories. Twelve genera and 40 species of fungi that were isolated in the rice straw in this study were also isolated from meju. Specifically, A. oryzae, C. cladosporioides, E. chevalieri, E. repens, F. asiaticum, and Penicillium polonicum (11.8%), which are abundant species in meju, were also isolated frequently from rice straw. C. cladosporioides, F. asiaticum, and P. polonicum, which are abundant in the low temperature fermentation process of meju fermentation, were frequently isolated from rice straw incubated at $15^{\circ}C$ and $25^{\circ}C$, whereas A. oryzae, E. repens, and E. chevalieri, which are abundant in the high temperature fermentation process of meju fermentation, were frequently isolated from rice straw incubated at $25^{\circ}C$ and $35^{\circ}C$. This suggests that the mycobiota of rice straw has a large influence in the mycobiota of meju. The influence of fungi on the rice straw as feed and silage for livestock, and as plant pathogens for rice, are discussed as well.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.34 no.7
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• pp.453-464
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• 2024

The fermentation of ganjang is known to be greatly influenced by the microbial communities derived from its primary ingredients, meju and sea salt. This study investigated the effects of changes in meju size on the distribution and correlation of microbial communities in ganjang fermentation, to enhance its fermentation process. Ganjang was prepared using whole meju and meju divided into thirds, and samples were collected at 7-day intervals over a period of 28 days for microbial community analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequencing. At the genus level, during fermentation, ganjang made with whole meju exhibited a dominance of Chromohalobacter (day 7), Pediococcus (day 14), Bacillus (day 21), and Pediococcus (day 28), whereas ganjang made with meju divided into thirds consistently showed a Pediococcus predominance over the 28 days. Beta-diversity analysis of microbial communities in ganjang with different meju sizes revealed significant separation of microbial communities at fermentation days 7 and 14 but not at days 21 and 28 across all experimental groups. The linear discriminant analysis effect size (LEfSe) was determined to identify biomarkers contributing to microbial community differences at days 7 and 14, showing that on day 7, potentially halophilic microbes such as Gammaproteobacteria, Firmicutes, Oceanospirillales, Halomonadaceae, Bacilli, and Chromohalobacter were prominent, whereas on day 14, lactic acid bacteria such as Pediococcus acidilactici, Lactobacillaceae, Pediococcus, Bacilli, Leuconostocaceae, and Weissella were predominant. Furthermore, correlation analysis of microbial communities at the genus and species levels revealed differences in correlation patterns between meju sizes, suggesting that meju size may influence microbial interactions within ganjang.

• The Korean Journal of Mycology
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• v.27 no.4 s.91
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• pp.312-317
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• 1999

In order to study the antitumoral effect of meju extracts, which was made with a single inoculum of the microorganism, the cytotoxicity effects on several human leukemia cells such as promyelocytic leukemia cell (HL60), histiocytic lymphoma cell (U937) and acute T-cell leukemia Jurkat cell, and lymphocyte were analyzed by MTT assay. Twenty one microbes, mainly fungal genera, were isolated from Korean traditional mejus of different regions. From those collected isolates, meju was manufactured and extracted with 80% methanol, respectively. Meju methanol extracts exhibited low activites in cytotoxicity tests on HL60 cell, but high antitumoral effects of meju methanol extracts were shown on U937 and Jurkat cells. Meju methanol extracts made with a genera of Mucor, Absidia and Aspergillus showed prominant cytotoxic activities, especially. However all these extracts had no inhibitory effects on the cell growth of lymphocyte under the same conditions.