Kikkoman Corporation

Noda Institute for Scientific Research

Riken Vitamin Co., Ltd.

Takeharu Nakahara

Hitomi Aota

Riichiro Uchida

Yoshikazu Endo

Yoichi Hanada

Junya Takeichi

Shigeki Tanizawa

Yasuji Koyama

Seiichi Hara

Tsutomu Masuda

Tetsuya Oguma

Makoto Saito

Satoshi Fukuda

Jun Yamakoshi

Kotaro Ito

Tadashi Takahashi

Hiroki Wada

Genryou Umitsuki

Norikazu Fujii

Kenichiro Matsushima

Takehiko Watanabe

Kazuki Shiga

Katsutoshi Sugimoto

Akitoshi Komura

Kona Yamashita

Toshifumi Matsuda

Yohei Shinozaki

Tatsuya Yamazaki

Yasuyuki Kobayashi

Kohsuke Matsumoto

Hiroki Ono

Takuya Sato

Kenji Aoyama

Masaya Horiguchi

Provided herein is a salt-free or low-salt soy sauce-like liquid seasoning having a desirable flavor and desirable functionality with no contamination by microorganisms. A method for producing such a sauce-like liquid seasoning is also provided. The salt-free or low-salt soy sauce-like liquid seasoning having a desirable flavor and desirable functionality is obtained by inoculating raw material grains of primarily soybean or wheat with a koji mold to prepare a solid koji, adding salt-free or low-salt water for brewing to the solid koji to prepare a moromi, pasteurizing the moromi, and fermenting the moromi with yeast in a container adapted to reduce entry of harmful microorganisms.

Soy sauce-like liquid seasoning and method for producing same

An object of the present invention is to provide a fermented seasoning containing 5'-nucleotides derived from fermentation at a high concentration without externally adding 5&#x2032;-nucleotides and a method of producing the same. In a case where the nucleic acids are externally added, display of additives is indispensable on an ingredients description, and thus it cannot be said that the fermented seasoning have no chemical seasoning additive or made by natural brewing; however, with the fermented seasoning relating to the present invention, it is unnecessary to display additives on the ingredients description, and thus it is possible to appeal an added value to nature oriented or natural oriented consumers.

Nucleic acid-containing fermented seasoning and method of producing the same

A seed koji (starter) for brewing is provided. The seed koji is obtained by inoculating koji mold(s) belonging to angenus into a seed koji raw material, where the seed koji raw material is a pea.

Koji starter for fermentation, koji for fermentation, and seasoning

Provided is a taste-improving agent that suppresses the unpleasant taste of potassium, such as harshness, irritativeness, and bitterness without reducing the salty taste of a potassium-containing food or drink. The taste-improving agent for a potassium-containing food or drink comprises a lactic acid-fermented yeast extract that is obtainable by fermenting a yeast extract with a lactic acid bacterium and contains 7.5 (w/w) % or more of lactic acid relative to the solid content of the yeast extract.

Taste-improving agent

The present invention provides soy sauce that comprises significant amounts of peptides, and, in particular, hypotensive peptide Gly-Tyr and hypotensive peptide Ser-Tyr, exhibiting a high degree of angiotensin-I-converting enzyme-inhibitory activity and has hypotensive effects while containing no hypotensive agent. Target soy sauce is obtained by mixing soy sauce koji having protease activity of 20 to 300 U/g koji with an aqueous common salt solution and subjecting the mixture to heated digestion, followed by compression filtration. Target soy sauce with a good flavor is obtained by adding soy sauce lactic acid bacteria and soy sauce yeast cells to the moromi mash after heated digestion, and subjecting the resultant to fermentation and maturation, followed by compression filtration.

Soy sauce having hypotensive effects and method for producing the same

To provide ACE inhibitory peptides which can effectively inhibit ACE by a small amount of ingestion and have no fear of causing side effects and which can be orally ingested easily during daily life by persons having high blood pressure, and compositions comprising the peptides. The peptides represented by the following structural formulae (1) to (9), and salts thereof are provided. (1) Asp-Arg-Pro, (2) Asn-Trp, (3) Val-Gly-Leu, (4) Ile-Gly-Val, (5) Gly-Val-Pro, (6) Ile-Pro-Tyr, (7) pyroGlu-Pro, (8) Tyr-Thr, (9) Pro-Trp.

Angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitory peptide

A fermented seasoning which does not have the bitterness specific to peptides and can be easily ingested orally, in spite of containing large amount of peptides is provided. Namely, a fermented seasoning obtained by adding salt water to anculture or a mixture of theculture with a plant-derived protein material and by controlling the leucine aminopeptidase-I activity in the moromi to be 1.0 U/ml or less, and also controlling the leucine aminopeptidase-II activity in the moromi to be 0.5 U/ml or less, within 10 days after the preparation.

Peptide-containing seasoning

A low common salt soy sauce, which has good flavor, significantly suppresses elevation of blood pressure, prevents cardiac hypertrophy, and is also available as special nutritious food, is obtained. 1.0% to 10.0% by weight of potassium chloride and 0.1% to 5.0% by weight of &#x3b3;-aminobutyric acid are added to a reduced common salt soy sauce, so as to obtain a low common salt soy sauce of issue. Otherwise, a KCl-containing low common slat soy sauce is obtained by: (1) a common production method of soy sauce, in which a mixed solution consisting of KCl and common salt is used as mother water; (2) a method of subjecting a soy sauce obtained using saline solution as mother water to electrodialysis, a membrane treatment, or the like, so as to eliminate common salt from the above soy sauce, and then adding KCl thereto; or other methods. Thereafter, &#x3b3;-aminobutyric acid is added to the above KCl-containing low common salt soy sauce, so as to obtain a low common salt soy sauce comprising 0% to 10% by weight of common salt, 1.0% to 10.0% by weight of potassium chloride, and 0.1% to 5.0% by weight of &#x3b3;-aminobutyric acid.

Low-salt soy sauce

Provided are a protein comprising the amino acid sequence as shown in SEQ ID NO: 2 and having prolidase activities, a prolidase gene coding for the protein, a prolidase gene comprising the nucleotide sequence as shown in SEQ ID NO: 1, recombinant DNA having the gene inserted into vector DNA, and a transformant or transductant comprising the recombinant DNA, and a method for producing prolidase using the transformant or transductant. The present invention can improve the prolidase through protein engineering. The present invention can be also used for improving microorganisms used in the production of enzymes for food processing and fermented foods.

Prolidase and its gene and method for producing prolidase

Growing community of inventors

Noda, Japan

Takeharu Nakahara