• Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.6
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• pp.79-87
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• 1965

The contents of insoluble protein nitrogen, water soluble protein nitrogen anti peptides' nitrogen were determined of the samples which were taken in seven and half hours intervals during soybean-koji preparation to study changes of soybean protein, and the contents of total nitrogen and amino nitrogen were measured for the fractions resulting from molecular sieving by using Dowex 50 having various cross linkages for the peptides from soybean-koji extracts. As the results of the studies, The followings were obtained: 1. The contents of insoluble protein nitrogen and peptides' nitrogen are fairy constant at the earlier stage, where the former decreased and the latter increased markedly as mycelia grow, then rate of the decreases and the increases of them become lower at later stage after sporulation. The contents of water soluble protein are also constant at the earlier stage until covering of mycelia over the koji and increased since then until the stage of sporulation and then decreased at the later stage. 2. The amount of peptides nitrogen in each fraction obtained by the molecular sieving was almost constant at the earlier stage and the values in fractions of X-16, X-12, X-8. X-4 and X-2 increased considerably together as mycelia grow. Then the values in the fractions showed almost plateaux, after sporulalion, where the effluent fraction showed markedly increased values throughout mycelia growth.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.45 no.1
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• pp.149-154
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• 2016

Cosmeceutical potentials of unpolished rice vinegars containing different amounts of Monascus-fermented soybean powder (soy-koji) were investigated. Four different vinegar types were prepared using 0, 10, 30, and 50% soy-koji addition. Soy-koji vinegar showed stronger cosmeceutical properties, in terms of tyrosinase and elastase inhibitory activities as well as antioxidant capacities, than unpolished rice vinegars (P<0.05). Bioactive effects of soy koji vinegar increased with increasing concentrations of total phenolics and isoflavone aglycones (P<0.05). Results indicate that unpolished rice vinegar supplemented with soy-koji can be an efficient strategy to improve bioactivities in vinegar with associated enhancement of cosmeceutical functionality.

• Food Science and Preservation
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• v.20 no.6
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• pp.818-826
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• 2013

To evaluate the practical use of okara koji in soy sauce fermented with soybean koji, the okara koji was fortified with different contents (0, 50, and 100%) in soybean koji and then fermented for 90 days. The saltiness of the soy sauce was about 17.15~17.22%. The higher okara koji content showed lower net soluble solid contents of 8.73, 6.12, and 2.50%, as well as lower acidity levels of 1.09, 0.98, and 0.47%. The buffering capacity of the soy sauce decreased to 1.26-3.41 by adding higher okara koji. The protease activity was higher in the soy sauce with 50% orara koji and decreased with longer fermentation. Also, the tyrosine content peaked to 275.2 mg% after 90 days. ${\alpha}$-amylase showed higher activity in the soy sauces fortified with okara koji, which resulted in the highest total sugar and reducing sugar contents after 60 days. The total sugar and the reducing sugar in the soy source decreased after longer fermentation. The total free amino acid contents of the soy sources fortified with okara koji (0, 50, and 100%) were 41.68 mg/mL, 33.10 mg/mL, and 9.27 mg/mL, respectively. In particular, the glutamic acid contents of the three types of soy sauces were highest, and most amino acids, except for glutamine, increased during the fermentation for 90 days. The sensory evaluation, except of the saltiness and color, showed similar values in the soy sauces, except in the okara koji 100%. Thus, okara koji could be a valuable ingredient of traditional soy sauces. However, the 50% okara koji did not differ significantly from the others.

• Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.35 no.5
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• pp.351-360
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• 1992

In order to improve the qualities of Doenjang were investigated on the enzyme activity in the koji and changes in chemical composition, flavors and sensory envaluation of Doenjang which were prepared with Rh. delemar koji, Asp. oryzae koji and traditional Meju with mixed koji and soybean as the ratio of optimum mixture. Asp. oryzae koji was indicated highest activities ${\alpha}$ and ${\beta}-amylase$ as 312 mg/ml, 235 mg/ml while Rh. delemar the lowest activities as 16 mg/ml, 38 mg/ml in aging for 40 days amino type ntrogen was the highest in the Asp. oryzae and Rh. delmear mixture koji(D group), Asp. oryzae(A group), and Asp. oryzae koji and Rh. delemar koji(C group) as 460 mg%, 440 mg% and 426 mg% in aging for 40 days. The main flavor components of Doenjang were detected as fellows phenol-2-kmethoxy, 4H-pyran-4-one-3-hydroxy-2-methyl, benzenthanol, 1-octan-3-ol, tetra-methyl pryrazine, 1,3,6 cyclooctatrien. Asp. oryzae(A) and Asp. oryzae koji with Rh. delemar koji mixture(C), group were the most excellent in taste, flavor color for fermented Doenjang at 40 days.

• Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.2
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• pp.17-21
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• 1961

The manufacture of riboflavine fortified Dwen-Jang has been tried with an exceedingly riboflavine productive Aspergillus oryzae #612 mutant which has been developed by the authors. Both the rice and barley koji of this mutant and Aspergillus sojae have been prepared. Their riboflavine production, saccharifying and protease activities have begin compared The riboflavine fortified Dwen-Jang has been manufactured using the barley koji of riboflavine productive mutant. Their riboflavine content and qualities have been studied comparing with an ordinary Dwen-Jang which has been prepared with the barley kojo of A. sojae strain. The following results have been obtained. (1) The baley koji was superior in riboflavine production and protease activity, inferior in saccharifying ability than rice koji both with A. oryzae #612 and A. sojae. (2) In barley koji, the mutant, A. oryzae #612, produces 1.5 times riboflavine than A. sojae and shows stronger saccharifying and protease activities than the latter. (3) The riboflavine fortified Dwen-Jaug manufactured contained $5.2{\gamma}/g$ of riboflavine, about 1.5 times that of A. sojae. The higher contents of free sugar and free amjno nitrogen have been observed than the ordinary Dwen-Jang manufactured with A. sojae.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.275-284
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• 1984

In order to study the flavor quality of Chungkookjang, the changes in nitrogenous compounds, nucleotides and their related compounds, free amino acids, amino acid composition and fatty acids were analysed during Chungkookjang Koji fermentation. Koji was prepared with Bacillus natto isolated from Japanese natto. Insoluble nitrogenous was rapidly decreased, whereas PAA (peptide, amino, ammonia) nitrogen were slightly increased during the fermentation of Chungkookjang Koji. The content of extracted nitrogen and free amino acid nitrogen were rapidly increased until 48 hours fermentation of Chungkookjang Koji and then decreased. The contents of ADP, ATP, AMP and inosine in raw soybean were abundant. The contents of ADP, ATP and AMP were decreased while inosine and hypoxanthine were increased during the fermentation of Chungkookjang Koji. The free amino acids analyzed in this experiment were not changed in composition but changed in amounts during the fermentation of Chungkookjang Koji. The contents of alanine, valine, isoleucine and phenylalanine were continually increased during the fermentation of Chungkookjang Koji. The contents of lysine, histidine, arginine, glutamic acid, glycine, methionine and tyrosine were increased until 48 hours fermentation and then decreased gradually. The increase in the contents of aspartic acid, threonine, serine, proline and cystine were fluctuated. In raw soybean, amino acid composition such as glutamic acid, serine and proline were dominant amino acid and amounts those were 63.8% of the total amino acids. The contents of aspartic acid, proline, glycine, alanine, cystine, leucine and tyrosine were continually decreased during the fermentation of Chungkookjang Koji, arginine and methionine were increased until 48 hours fermentation of Chungkookjang Koji and then decreased gradually. The increase of threonine and serine were fluctuated. Eight kinds of fatty acids were detected from raw soybean, but 10 kinds of fatty acids detected from Chungkookjang Koji. Palmitic, oleic and linoleic acid were identified as the major fatty acid of raw soybean and Chungkookjang Koji, and amounts of those were estimated above 80% of the total fatty acids.

• 한국균학회소식:학술대회논문집
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• 2014.05a
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• pp.25-25
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• 2014

Koji molds are comprised of yellow, black and white. Black and white koji molds were recently re-visited by this author and it is concluded that they consists of Aspergillus luchuesnsis, A. niger and A. tubingensis, and the most important species for alcoholic beverage production is A. luchuensis. In the case of yellow koji mold, it is comprised of Aspergillus oryzae, A. sojae and A. tamari. In the case of A. sojae, the species is scarcely isolated from nature and rarely used for industry in Korea. Aspergillus tamari is often isolated from traditional Korean Meju, a fermented soybean product, and the classification of the species is clear. However, in the case of A. oryzae, differentiation between A. oryzae and A. flavus is still in controversy. In this study, we collected 415 strains of Aspergillus flavus/oryzae complex from air, rice straw, soybean, corn, peanut, arable soil and Meju in Korea and we examined the aflatoxin producing capacity of the strains. The norB-cypA, omtA and aflR genes in the aflatoxin biosynthesis gene cluster were analyzed. We found that 367 strains (88.4%) belonged to non-aflatoxigenic group (Type I of norB-cypA, IB-L-B-, IC-AO, or IA-L-B- of omtA, and AO type of aflR), and only 48 strains (11.6%) belonged to aflatoxin-producible group (Type II of norB-cypA, IC-L-B+/B- or IC-L-B+ of omtA, and AF type of aflR). In the case of A. flavus/oryzae strains from Meju, almost strains (178/192, 92.7%) belonged to non-aflatoxigenic group and only 14 strains (7.3 %) belonged to aflatoxin-producible group. It is proposed in this study that non-aflatoxigenic strain from Meju is classified as A. oryzae, considering that Meju is food material.

• Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.98-103
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• 1989

For the effective use of soymilk residue (SR), by-product of soymilk production, rice Doenjang was manufactured. As the results, the contents of reducing sugar were increased till $40{\sim}50days$ in all samples and decreased thereafter during aging of the mash. The contents of amino nitrogen were prominently increased till 50days, but increasing ratio was slightly slowdowned thereafter. The higher mixing ratio of SR, the less were the contents of reducing sugar and amino nitrogen. The contents of total acid were also prominently increased till 30days, but were slowdowned thereafter and the differences among all treatments were small. As the mixing ratio of SR was increased, the lightness and the yellowness were increased and the redness was decreased in 80days aged samples. In sensory evaluation of 90days aged samples, control was the best in soy sprout Doenjang soup. As the mixing ratio of SR was increased, the taste was dropped slightly but no significant differences were obtained between control and sample A (rice koji 100, soybean 75, SR 25), and among A,B(rice koji 100, soybean 50, SR 50). C(rice koji 100, soybean 25, SR 75) and D(rice koji 100, soybean 0, SR100). In the original taste of Doenjang, the control was the best and as the mixing ratio of SR was increased, the point was dropped but there were no significant differences between control and A, and among A, B and C, and among B, C and D.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.251-261
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• 2017

Initially, we screened 18 Aspergillus sojae-like strains from Aspergillus spp. isolated from meju (Korean traditional fermented soybean brick) according to their morphological characteristics. Because members of Aspergillus section Flavi are often incorrectly identified because of their phylogenetic similarity, we re-identified these strains at the morphological and molecular genetic levels. Fourteen strains were finally identified as A. sojae. The isolates produced protease and ${\alpha}-amylase$ with ranges of 2.66-10.64 and 21.53-106.73 unit/g-initial dry substrate (U/g-IDS), respectively, which were equivalent to those of the koji (starter mold) strains employed to produce Japanese soy sauce. Among the isolates and Japanese koji strains, strains SMF 127 and SMF 131 had the highest leucine aminopeptidase (LAP) activities at 6.00 and 6.06 U/g-IDS, respectively. LAP plays an important role in flavor development because of the production of low-molecular-weight peptides that affect the taste and decrease bitterness. SMF 127 and SMF 131 appeared to be non-aflatoxigenic because of a termination point mutation in aflR and the lack of the polyketide synthase gene found in other A. sojae strains. In addition, SMF 127 and SMF 131 were not cyclopiazonic acid (CPA) producers because of the deletion of maoA, dmaT, and pks/nrps, which are involved in CPA biosynthesis. Therefore, A. sojae strains such as SMF 127 and SMF 131, which have high protease and LAP activities and are free of safety issues, can be considered good starters for soybean fermentations, such as in the production of the Korean fermented soybean products meju, doenjang, and ganjang.

• Food Science and Preservation
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• v.18 no.6
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• pp.859-868
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• 2011

This study was conducted to determine the appropriate mixing ratio of Koji and rice Doenjang. Brown rice Doenjang (BR) was prepared with three different ratios of cooked soybean to brown rice Koji [1.5:1 (BR-1); 2:1 (BR-2); and 3:1 (BR-3)], and polished-rice Doenjang (PR) was prepared with cooked soybean and polished-rice Koji (2:1). The components related to the quality of Doenjang were analyzed during 60-day aging. No significant differences were found in the moisture and salt contents between the brown rice Doenjang and the polished-rice Doenjang. The pH, titratable acidity, and bacteria cells increased at 20-30 days aging time, and decreased thereafter. The reducing-sugar and ethyl alcohol contents, on the other hand, increased at 10-20 days previously. These analytical values of the physicochemical and microbiological characteristics increased with the increase in the percentage of koji in each Doenjang. The amino-nitrogen and free-amino-acid contents showed the highest levels in BR-1: 887.6 and $4047.0{\pm}1.5$ mg%, respectively. The ${\gamma}$-aminobutyric-acid (GABA) contents slightly increased with increasing aging time. In the color of Doenjang, the lightness and yellowness increased along with the aging time, but the redness decreased as the aging time increased. These results showed that BR-1 processed the fermentation the fastest compared with the others. Moreover, the reducing-sugar, ethanol, and free-amino-acid contents as palatable components increased rapidly until 30 days aging time.