What is the function of the fungus Aspergillus in the making of soy sauce?
Soy beans and wheat, from which soy sauce is made, have somewhat hard to digest proteins, as well as starch and oils. Aspergillus oryzae is a culture used in the process of making soy sauce. During a three day incubation period the Aspergillus breaks down starches, proteins, and oils into easier-to-digest simple sugars, amino acids, and fatty acids (see http://www.panix.com/~clay/cookbook/bin/show_ingredient.cgi?soy-sauce where you can find a full description of the process, and much more). For an image see http://www.foodprocessing-technology.com/projects/kikkoman/kikkoman2.html .
