Comparative study of quality characteristics of meju, a Korean soybean fermentation starter, made by soybeans germinated under dark and light conditions

This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of dark and light conditions on the quality characteristics of whole soybean meju, a Koran soybean fermentation starter, made by germinated soybeans. The sprouting rates of soybeans under dark and light conditions after 24 h were 25.6 ± 1.2% and 20.5 ± 1.5%, respectively and reaching to a level of 99.4 ± 0.4% and 98.9 ± 0.5%, respectively at 60 h. The pH, moisture contents and amino-type nitrogen contents had no significant differences under dark and light conditions, however, the contents were significantly different as compared to control. Also there was a significant difference in the color change values of whole soybean meju under dark and light conditions. The compositions of total organic acids in MNG, MGD and MGL were noted to be 942.2 ± 111.0, 1075 ± 120.2 and 1019 ± 108.1 mg%, respectively. However, no significant differences were observed in free amino acid contents of MNG, MGD and MGL. It was observed that isoflavone contents were significantly differed in MGD and MGL as compared to MNG.