A novel protein deamidase having an activity of directly acting on a side chain amide group of an asparagine residue in a protein to form a side chain carboxyl group and release ammonia, a microorganism that produces the same, a gene encoding the same, a method for producing the same, and use of the same are provided. A bacterium classified into the class Actinobacteria is cultured to generate protein deamidase, and the enzyme is collected from culture.

A flavour composition comprising a compound of formula (I) corresponding to the formula ##STR00001## and edible salts thereof, wherein R.sub.1 is an alkyl residue containing 6 to 20 carbon atoms, or an alkene residue containing from 9 to 25 carbon atoms with 1 to 6 double bonds, R.sub.1 together with the carbonyl group to which it is attached is a residue of a carboxylic acid.

The present invention relates to an extract obtained by extracting useful components containing equal from an equol-containing fermented soybean hypocotyl, and to a method for producing the same. The present invention makes it possible to efficiently obtain useful components containing equol from the fermented soybean hypocotyl by subjecting an equol-containing fermented soybean hypocotyl to extraction using an ethanol aqueous solution as an extractant. The present invention reduces the content of saponin, which causes an unpleasant taste, by sequentially subjecting the equal-containing fermented soybean hypocotyl to extraction using an ethanol aqueous solution and ethanol, while efficiently extracting equol and glycitein.

A novel substance which adds body to a food product, and a body-adding agent for food products that uses said substance are provided. More specifically, the body adding agent for food products is characterized by having as an active component a peptide, or a salt thereof, that is characterized in that the -glutamyl bond number is 2-4 and the peptide chain length is the -glutamyl bond number +1 to +2, a food product manufacturing method that uses said peptide, and a method for adding body to a food product, characterized by adding said peptide are provided.

A flavour composition comprising a compound according to the formula (I) ##STR00001##
and edible salts thereof, wherein R.sub.1 is an alkyl residue containing 6 to 20 carbon atoms, or an alkene residue containing from 9 to 25 carbon atoms with 1 to 6 double bonds, R.sub.1 together with the carbonyl group to which it is attached is a residue of a carboxylic acid, and m is 0 or 1.

The present disclosure relates to a Bacillus amyloliquefaciens CJ14-6 strain isolated from traditional meju, a preparation method for soybean koji using the same, and a soybean koji prepared by the preparation method. The preparation method for soybean koji includes: soaking soybeans in water or adding waster to soybeans and steaming the soaked soybeans; and inoculating a Bacillus amyloliquefaciens CJ14-6 strain into the steamed soybeans, fermenting the steamed soybeans, and drying the fermented soybeans to prepare a soybean koji.

Provided are a lactic acid bacterium for a lactic acid bacterium-fermented soybean foodstuff, which takes a short fermentation time even when applied to a soybean raw material and has a wide optimal temperature range, and hence can cause curdling in a short period of time even at low temperature, thus being extremely suited for fermentation of the soybean raw material, a lactic acid bacterium-fermented soybean foodstuff comprising the lactic acid bacterium, and a production method for a lactic acid bacterium-fermented soybean foodstuff. The lactic acid bacterium-fermented soybean foodstuff comprises a lactic acid bacterium belonging to Streptococcus thermophilus and having an accession number of NITE BP-02207. The lactic acid bacterium-fermented soybean foodstuff of the present invention is preferably a soybean yogurt lactic acid bacterium-fermented soybean foodstuff.

Provided is a method for producing a vegetable fresh cheese-like food product which is free from dairy products, has a natural, fresh cheese-like dairy flavor and body, and has excellent spreadability and squeezability as a confectionery material. The pH of an emulsified oil composition which contains a soybean emulsified composition containing a specific protein and lipid, a specific soybean protein material having a reduced content of a lipophilic protein among soybean proteins, and a protein coagulant is adjusted to a pH of 5.5-6.3 using lactic acid fermentation and/or an organic acid.

A method of producing natto includes inoculating a mutant strain of Bacillus subtilis var. natto onto steamed or boiled soybeans, and fermenting the soybeans inoculated with the mutant strain by maintaining a temperature of the soybeans at 40 C. to 53 C. The number of the mutant strain spores after fermenting the soybeans is 510.sup.5 or less spores per gram of the fermented soybeans. A single colony of the mutant strain cultured in a selective solid medium supplemented with biotin at a gas phase temperature of 49 C. for 48 hours has a region having a hue of yellow (Y), a value of 9 or more, and a chroma of 2 or less, as defined by the Munsell Color System, and a surface area of the region is 20% or less of the total surface area of the single colony.

A method of producing natto includes inoculating a mutant strain of Bacillus subtilis var. natto onto steamed or boiled soybeans, and fermenting the soybeans inoculated with the mutant strain by maintaining a temperature of the soybeans at 40 C. to 53 C. The number of the mutant strain spores after fermenting the soybeans is 510.sup.5 or less spores per gram of the fermented soybeans. A single colony of the mutant strain cultured in a selective solid medium supplemented with biotin at a gas phase temperature of 49 C. for 48 hours has a region having a hue of yellow (Y), a value of 9 or more, and a chroma of 2 or less, as defined by the Munsell Color System, and a surface area of the region is 20% or less of the total surface area of the single colony.