Biology and YouYou and Food |
How are fungi related to soy sauce? |
Aspergillus tamari and other deuteromycetes are used to produce soy sauce by slowly fermenting boiled soybeans. Soy sauce provides foods with more than its special flavor; the soybeans and fungi give soy sauce amino acids that are vital to human life. Fungi have been used in many cultures to improve the nutrient quality of the diet. (For more about fermentation, see the chapter “Basics of Biology.”)