TECHNOLOGY-TRANSFER FOR SMALL AND MEDIUM SOY-SAUCE FERMENTATION FACTORIES IN THAILAND - A CONSORTIUM APPROACH

There are a number of soybean fermentation products in Thailand. These include soy sauce, soybean paste, fermented soybean curd and fermente d black soybeans. Although there are two or three large factories, the soybean fermentation industry mainly comprises of small and medium si ze factories. The manufacturing techniques employed by these small fac tories are usually those passed from generation to generation with lit tle or no improvement. Due to the lack of qualified personnel and low financial investment, there are minimal research and development activ ities by either large or small factories. The lack of research and dev elopment activity greatly inhibits the capability of these factories t o improve either their production technology or the quality of their p roducts. A few years ago, a small research and development unit was se t up through the support of the Thailand Research Fund (TRF) and a con sortium of small and medium size soy sauce manufactures. This unit was called the Quality Control and Training Center for Soybean Fermentati on (QCTC-Soybean Fermentation). By working closely with the consortium , this unit has initiated research and development activities that hav e benefited members of the consortium. The objectives of the QCTC-Soyb ean Fermentation program have been to improve the quality of soybean f ermentation products and to improve manufacturing techniques. Some exa mples of QCTC-achievements include the introduction of improved microb ial inocula (Aspergillus oryzae, Zygosaccharomyces rouxii and Tetragen ococcus halophilus) for soy sauce fermentation, the introduction of ne w technique for preparing koji, the use of large fiberglass tanks inst ead of small earthenware containers for second stage soy sauce ferment ation, and the introduction of cost effective waste treatment systems. These inputs have helped the small industry consortium members to imp rove the quality of their products and/or to reduce production costs. (C) 1998 Canadian Institute of Food Science and Technology. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.