Asahi Breweries, Ltd.

Hiroshi Shoji

Toshikazu Sugimoto

An object of the present invention is to provide a liquid koji to be used in the production of a fermented food or drink, particularly a liquid koji having glucoamylase and acid-stable &#x3b1;-amylase with high enzymatic activities, which can be used in the brewing of shochu. The present invention provides a method of manufacturing a liquid koji to be used in production of a fermented food or drink, comprising: cultivating a koji mold in a liquid medium that contains, as a raw material, a substance selected from the group consisting of a cereal having a surface covered with a husk; a cereal having a surface from which only a husk (e.g., a chaff) is removed; an unprocessed bean or tuber having a surface covered with a hull; andand/or quinoa. According to the present invention, both enzymes of glucoamylase and acid-stable &#x3b1;-amylase are simultaneously produced with high yield in a balanced manner to allow the production of a liquid koji having enzymatic activities required for, for example, the brewing of shochu. By using the liquid koji, fermented foods and drinks such as shochu can be efficiently produced.

Method of manufacturing liquid koji

It is an object of the present invention to provide a method of adjusting productivity of enzymes, in particular, amylolytic enzymes, plant fiber degradation enzymes and proteolytic enzymes in a filamentous fungus culture product, by controlling releasing rate of nutrients from the culture raw material into the culture system when a filamentous fungus culture product is produced by culturing filamentous fungi in liquid medium containing as the culture raw material at least one selected from the group consisting of cereals, beans, tubers,and quinoa. The present invention provides a method of producing filamentous fungus culture product by using liquid medium containing as culture raw material at least one selected from the group consisting of cereals, beans, tubers,and quinoa comprising, culturing filamentous fungi while releasing rate of nutrients from the culture raw material into the culture system is controlled to adjust productivity of enzymes in the filamentous fungus culture product.

Method of producing filamentous fungus culture product

An object of the present invention is to provide a method of mass-producing recombinant protein by the liquid culture method with koji molds as host. According to the present invention, it is provided a method of producing recombinant protein by using the recombinant koji molds which are obtained by transforming koji molds as host comprising: culturing the recombinant koji molds in a liquid medium which contains as culture raw material at least one selected from the group consisting of the cereal of which surface is entirely or partly covered with at least husks, the bean and/or the tuber of which surface is covered with hulls and the amaranthus and/or the quinoa without pre-treatment such as grinding or crushing; and collecting the recombinant protein from the culture product.

Method of producing recombinant protein

An object of the present invention is to provide a method of producing liquid koji having enhanced activity of a plant fiber degradation enzyme using liquid medium without using an expensive plant fiber degradation enzyme preparation and a recombinant bacterium and methods of producing liquid koji dry product and industrial alcohol (ethanol) using the liquid koji. According to the present invention, there is provided a method of producing liquid koji having enhanced activity of a plant fiber degradation enzyme by culturing koji molds with at least one liquid medium selected from the group consisting of a liquid medium containing as culture raw material the cereal of which surface is entirely or partly covered with at least husks, a liquid medium containing as culture raw material the bean and/or the tuber of which surface is covered with hulls, and a liquid medium containing as culture raw material the amaranthus and/or the quinoa without pre-treatment such as grinding or crushing, wherein amount of the culture raw material to be used in the liquid medium is controlled to generate and accumulate simultaneously at least glucoamylase, acid-stable &#x3b1;-amylase and a plant fiber degradation enzyme in the koji mold culture product. There are also provided a method of producing a dry product of liquid koji with liquid medium, characterized by drying the liquid koji obtained by the above-mentioned method, and a method of producing ethanol by a fermentation method using the liquid koji.

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Moriya, Japan

Hiroshi Shoji