Compositions of Nitrogen Compound and Amino Acid in Soybean Paste(Doenjang) Prepared with Different Microbial Sources

Fermented traditional soybean paste(doenjang), koji soybean paste by Aspergillus oryzae, natto soybean paste by Bacillus natto and koji & natto soybean paste by Aspergillus oryzae and Bacillus natto were analyzed for compositions of amino acids and contents of nitrogens. Amino type nitrogen was the highest in fermenting for 90 days as , and its contents were in the order of koji soybean paste>traditional soybean paste>koji & natto soybean paste>natto soybean paste in all samples tested. In compositions of total amino acids, glutamic and aspartic acids were rich in koji soybean paste but big differences were not observed in all samples. But some differences were observed in free amino acid compositions in all samples, that is, glutamic acid, tyrosine, lysine and aspartic acid were detected more abundantly. Sum of free amino acids for 90 days were in order of koji soybean paste>traditional soybean paste>koji & natto soybean paste>natto soybean paste. The ratios of free to total amino acids were for 45 days, but increased to for 90 days, and in order of traditional doenjang>koji doenjang>koji & natto doenjang>natto doenjang. Methionine and histidine showed higher ratios of free to total amino acid but lower in glutamic acid and aspartic acid. These results suggest that koji and traditional soybean paste of having high ratios of free amino acids to free and total amino acids may be more favorable in soybean paste fermentation.