T. Mongkolwai et al., TECHNOLOGY-TRANSFER FOR SMALL AND MEDIUM SOY-SAUCE FERMENTATION FACTORIES IN THAILAND - A CONSORTIUM APPROACH, Food research international, 30(8), 1997, pp. 555-563
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.