ABSTRACT
The process of soy sauce-making has been developed from household handcraft to the modern industry. Soybean or defatted soybean is commonly used as protein material in soy sauce fermentation. Starch is a non-reducing, insoluble, white, tasteless and odorless powder which may be enzymatically degraded to sugars, contributing to the improvement of flavor and color in soy sauce production. During microbial fermentation and enzymatic activity, proteins of soybean are degraded into amino acids, peptides and other water-soluble nitrogen content. Soy sauce production involves varieties of materials and microorganisms, leading to the extracted liquid from the aged mash juice containing amino acids, peptides, reducing sugars, polysaccharides, alcohol, aldehyde, esters, and organic acids. Soy sauce is taken to pasteurization and blended in accordance with specialized standard. Salt is another important material in the production of soy sauce and plays a role in flavor formation and preservation of final product.
