Journal of Food Composition and Analysis 70 (2018) 18–21

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Journal of Food Composition and Analysis

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jfca

Short Communication

Stable carbon isotopic composition indicates large presence of maize in T

Brazilian soy sauces (shoyu)
⁎
M.C. Moraisa, , T.A. Pellegrinettia, L.C. Sturiona, T.M.S. Sattolob, L.A. Martinellia
a
CENA-USP, Av. Centenário, 303, Piracicaba, 13416-000, São Paulo, Brazil
b
ESALQ-USP, Av. Padua Dias, 11, Piracicaba, 13418-900, São Paulo, Brazil

A R T I C LE I N FO A B S T R A C T

Keywords: Carbon and nitrogen (N) isotopic compositions were used to test the presence of C4 carbon in soy sauces (shoyu)
Shoyu produced in Brazil. Seventy samples of Brazilian shoyu were analyzed and compared with the same product from
Sauce Japan, China, Singapore, Taiwan, and United States. The average ( ± standard-deviation) δ13C of the Brazilian
Soy shoyu was −15.0 ± 3.4. The average ( ± standard-deviation) δ13C of five shoyu samples from Japan was
Maize
−25.2 ± 0.6‰. The δ13C of shoyu from US (−25.3‰) and Singapore (−25.9‰) were close to Japanese
Stable isotopes
samples. Shoyu δ13C values from China were equal to −20‰ and −15.4‰, and from Taiwan equal to −20.2‰.
Brazil
Food analysis The average δ15N value of Brazilian shoyu was 0.3 ± 1.2‰. The variability of δ15N values among shoyu from
Food composition other countries was much lower than Brazilian shoyu, and the average was 1.4 ± 0.3‰. Using a simple isotopic
mass balance, we estimated that most of the shoyu in Brazil contains < 20% soy, and the dominant cereal is
maize, probably because in Brazil maize is cheaper than soybean.

1. Introduction
Brazil has the largest community of Japanese people outside Japan.
There are 400.000 Japanese, and 1.5 million including their descen-
dants in the country (BRAZIL, 2017). The first wave of Japanese im-
migrants arrived on board the ship Kasato Maru in 1908. After a cen-
tury, Japanese food has become popular in Brazil. Today, there are
more than 700 Japanese restaurants in the city of São Paulo alone, and
more than 3000 nationwide (ABRESI Gastronomia, Hospedagem e
Turismo, 2015).
Soy sauce (known as shoyu in Japan and Brazil) is one of the key
condiments in Asiatic countries. Traditionally, there are two kinds of
soy sauce: fermented soy sauce, made with prolonged fermentation
processes by microorganisms, and chemical soy sauce, made through
hydrolysis of vegetable protein (Nunomura and Sasaki, 1992). The Ja-
panese-type soy sauce is traditionally produced by fermentation of
soybeans and wheat (Steinhaus and Schieberle, 2007). In the Chinese-
type, wheat is not included in the fermentation process (Nunomura and
Sasaki, 1992), whereas Korean soy sauce is produced with soybeans and
barley meal (Steinhaus and Schieberle, 2007). Additives, such as sugars,
caramel, monosodium glutamate, acidulants, and citric acid, could also
be included in soy sauce (Jakobi et al., 2017).
Shoyu is now the second most popular sauce-based condiment made
in Brazil after ketchup. Last year, more than 30,000 tons of shoyu were
produced, which is more than the production of mustard and pepper
sauces combined (FAOSTAT, 2017).
Brazilian legislation defines shoyu as the product of the fermentation
of soy and other cereals, including maize, rice and wheat. Soy, rice and
wheat are plants that follow the C3 photosynthetic pathway, while
maize follows the C4 pathway. The stable carbon C isotopic composition
(express as δ13C) is distinct between these two types of plants (Farquhar
et al., 1989). Consequently, δ13C has been widely used to distinguish
the botanical origin of carbon in several types of foods (e.g. Camin
et al., 2017). The C4 plants are widely present in the Brazilian food
system (Martinelli et al., 2011; Chalk, 2016), since Brazil is one of the
largest producers of maize, sugarcane and free-range cattle, fed by C4
African grasses of the genus Brachiaria.
The price of maize in Brazil has been approximately half of the price
of soybean in the last decade (CEPEA, 2017). This fact coupled with
legislation that allows the use of maize to produce shoyu, may tempt
Brazilian producers to use a large amount of this cereal instead of
soybean to produce shoyu. Based on this fact, the main objective of this
paper is to use the stable carbon isotopic composition of shoyu made in
Brazil to estimate the relative contribution of C3 (probably soybeans)
and C4 (probably maize) to this condiment. As shoyu is widely known to
be a soy-based sauce, our null hypothesis is that the main botanical
component of this condiment will be soybeans, which is a C3 plant.
Accordingly, we expect shoyu to have δ13C < −25‰. We also

⁎
Corresponding author.
E-mail address: maristelacm@usp.br (M.C. Morais).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfca.2018.04.001
Received 17 January 2018; Received in revised form 26 March 2018; Accepted 2 April 2018
Available online 03 April 2018
0889-1575/ © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
M.C. Morais et al. Journal of Food Composition and Analysis 70 (2018) 18–21

determined the nitrogen isotopic composition of shoyu samples because

soy fixes large amounts of nitrogen in Brazil (Alves et al., 2003). Con-
sequently, most of the soy in Brazil has δ15N values near 0‰ (Figueira
et al., 2016). Therefore, if soy is one of the main ingredients of shoyu
produced in Brazil, shoyu δ15N values close to 0‰ are expected.

2. Materials and methods

Seventy samples of shoyu from 40 Brazilian sellers or producers

were bought in food stores of the municipality of Piracicaba, located in
the State of São Paulo, southeast region of Brazil. For comparison, ten
shoyu samples from other countries were bought: five from Japan, two
from China, and one each from Singapore, Taiwan, and US.
Carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios of each sample were simulta-
neously determined by placing 1.1 mL of shoyu into a tin capsule con-
taining Chromosorb porous polymers using a volumetric pipette. The
capsules were combusted in a Carlo Erba Elemental Analyzer (Milan,
Italy). The CO2 and N2 generated from the combustion was separated in
a gas chromatographic column and passed directly to the inlet of a gas
isotope ratio mass spectrometer (IRMS Delta Plus; Finnigan Mat, San
Jose, CA). As an international standard, we used the BBOT standard
from Fisons Instruments (C26H26N2O2S), and as a laboratory standard,
we used fine-milled sugarcane leaves. The laboratory standards were
included in each 10-sample run and international standards in each 40-
sample run. These standards were calibrated against the fossilized be-
lemnite rock from the Pee Dee formation standard for carbon and at-
mospheric air for nitrogen. In 500 runs, the standard deviations of the
international standards were equal to 0.2 and 0.1‰ for nitrogen and
carbon, respectively. For the laboratory standards, in 675 runs the
standard deviations were equal to 0.4 and 0.3‰ for nitrogen and
carbon, respectively. The carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios are re-
ported as the classical δ notation on Eq. (1):

δ = (Rsample/Rstd − 1) × 1000 (1)

where Rsample and Rstd are the 13C/12C or 15N/14N ratios of the sample
and standard, respectively (Pee Dee Belemnite limestone). The analy-
tical error was 0.2‰ for δ13C, and 0.3‰ for δ15N.
To estimate the relative contribution of C3 plant (probably soybean)
and C4 plant (probably maize), we used a simple isotopic dilution
model (Eq. (2)), where:
δ − δc 4 ⎞
C3 (%) = 100 × ⎛ C3 ⎜ ⎟ C3 contribution of 50%, the error associated with this value would be
⎝ δC 4 − δC 4 ⎠ (2)
Where, C3 (%) is the relative contribution of C3 plants, expressed as
percentage, δshoyu is the carbon isotopic composition of shoyu sample;
and δC3 and δC4 is the carbon isotopic composition of putative raw
materials. Although wheat, rice, barley and other cereals could be used
in shoyu, soybean is the main raw material. Therefore, we assume the
average stable isotopic composition of ten samples of soybeans acquired
in the local market (−25.7 ± 1.3‰) as the δC3. Using the same ra-
tionale, we assumed that in Brazil the main source of C4 plants is the
fermentation of maize, although molasses and caramel could be used as
additives to shoyu. Accordingly, the δC4 was assumed to be the average
δ13C value of fifteen maize samples also acquired in the local market
(−11.4 ± 0.4‰).
We estimated the error associated with the isotopic dilution model
as:
2 2
⎛ stdmaize ⎞ ⎛ stdsoy ⎞
Error (%) = 100x ⎜ avg + 100x ⎜
maize ⎟ avgsoy ⎟
⎝ ⎠ ⎝ ⎠ (3)
Where, stdmaize and stdsoy are the standard deviations of maize (0.4‰)
and soy (1.3‰) endmembers, respectively; and avgmaize and avgsoy are
the average values of maize (11.4‰) and soybean (−25.7‰), respec-
tively. Using Eq. (3) the estimated error was equal to 6% of the relative
Fig. 1. Histogram of δ13C (A) and δ15N (B) of Brazilian shoyus.
contribution estimated by Eq. (2). For instance, if Eq. (2) resulted in a
50% ×0.06 = 3%.
3. Results
The average ( ± standard deviation) δ13C of the Brazilian shoyu was
−15.0 ± 3.4‰, with a minimum δ13C of −27.6‰ and a maximum of
−12.1‰. The histogram of δ13C shows a skewed distribution with most
values varying between −14‰ and −12‰ (Fig. 1A). On the other
hand, the δ13C values of shoyu from other countries were very distinct
compared to the Brazilian ones. For instance, the average ( ± standard
deviation) δ13C of five shoyu samples from Japan was −25.2 ± 0.6‰.
The δ13C of shoyu samples from US (−25.3‰) and Singapore
(−25.9‰) were close to Japanese samples. The δ13C values of Shoyu
from China (−20‰ and −15.4‰) and Taiwan (−20.2‰) were higher
than those from Japan, Singapore and US but still lower than the δ13C
of Brazilian samples (Table 1).
There was a large variability of δ15N in Brazilian shoyu samples,
from −5‰ to 4‰, however, most of the values varied from −1‰ to
2‰, and the average value was 0.3 ± 1.2‰ (Fig. 1B). The variability
in the samples from other countries was much lower, from 1.1‰ to
1.8‰, and the average was 1.4 ± 0.3‰ (Table 1).
A plot of δ13C vs. δ15N shows the distribution of Brazilian shoyu
samples compared with the average isotopic values of maize, and

19
M.C. Morais et al. Journal of Food Composition and Analysis 70 (2018) 18–21

Table 1 Table 1 (continued)

δ13C and δ15N values (expressed as ‰) of Brazilian and foreign shoyu brands
presented in decreasing order of δ13C values.%C3 is the percentage of C3 carbon Brand Type* Country δ13C δ15N %C3
(%C3) estimated using Eq. (2) followed by the ± error estimated by Eq. (3).
Lee Kum Kee Premium dark soy China −15.4 1.8 28 ± 1.7
%C3 values for non-Brazilian shoyu brands were estimated assuming the same
Lee kum kee Traditional China −20.0 1.0 60 ± 3.6
endmembers in Eq. (1) as for Brazilian shoyu. Kim Lam Soy sauce paste Taiwan −20.2 1.3 62 ± 3.7
Brand Type* Country δ13C δ15N %C3 Gen En Shoyu Yamasa Japan −24.0 1.0 88 ± 5.3
Nippon Traditional Japan −25.1 1.1 96 ± 5.8
Hatenkoo Maruiti Traditional Brazil −12.1 −0.8 5 ± 0.3 Kikkoman Traditional US −25.2 0.4 97 ± 5.8
Mitsuwa Traditional Brazil −12.1 0.1 5 ± 0.3 Yamasa Hon Jozo Japan −25.3 1.6 97 ± 5.8
Dia Traditional Brazil −12.2 1.2 6 ± 0.4 Kikkoman Traditional US −25.3 1.1 97 ± 5.8
Cepera Traditional Brazil −12.3 −0.6 6 ± 0.4 Kikkkoman All purpose Japan −25.5 1.4 99 ± 5.9
Sakura Traditional Brazil −12.3 1.9 6 ± 0.4 Yamasa Yuki shoyu Japan −25.8 1.8 100 ± 6.0
Campo Belo Traditional Brazil −12.4 −0.4 7 ± 0.4 Kikkoman Traditional Singapore −25.8 1.5 100 ± 6.0
Castelo Traditional Brazil −12.5 1.1 8 ± 0.5 Kikkoman All purpose Singapore −25.9 1.4 100 ± 6.0
Sakura For Yaksoba Brazil −12.6 −1.2 9 ± 0.5
Aji no Shoyu Traditional Brazil −12.6 1.4 9 ± 0.5 * “Traditional” in Brazil refers to the amount of sodium in opposition of
Coop Traditional Brazil −12.7 0.4 9 ± 0.5 “Light” that refers to a shoyu with less sodium. “Premium” has not any defi-
Hinomoto Traditional Brazil −12.7 0.4 9 ± 0.5 nition neither in the Brazilian legislation nor by the producer.
Mitsuwa Premium Brazil −12.8 0.2 10 ± 0.6
Carrefour Traditional Brazil −12.8 1.4 10 ± 0.6
Mitsuwa Traditional Brazil −12.9 −0.1 10 ± 0.6
Great Value Traditional Brazil −13.0 1.8 11 ± 0.7
Selva Traditional Brazil −13.0 −1.9 12 ± 0.7
Ruah Traditional Brazil −13.1 0.9 10 ± 0.6
Cepera Light Brazil −13.1 1.1 13 ± 0.8
Cepera Traditional Brazil −13.2 0.2 13 ± 0.8
Lancheiro Traditional Brazil −13.3 −4.1 13 ± 0.8
Chinezinho Traditional Brazil −13.3 0.2 14 ± 0.8
Sakura Traditional Brazil −13.4 1.5 14 ± 0.8
Qualita Traditional Brazil −13.4 1.4 14 ± 0.8
Kirin Traditional Brazil −13.4 0.7 14 ± 0.8
Mitsuwa Traditional Brazil −13.4 −0.4 14 ± 0.8
Hemmer Cream Brazil −13.4 0.2 14 ± 0.8
Hinomoto Premium light Brazil −13.5 0.1 15 ± 0.9
Jimmi Traditional Brazil −13.5 1.0 15 ± 0.9
Sakura Traditional Brazil −13.5 0.4 15 ± 0.9
Qualitá Traditional Brazil −13.5 1.4 15 ± 0.9
Mitsuwa Premium Brazil −13.5 0.4 15 ± 0.9
Mrs Taste Light Brazil −13.6 1.9 15 ± 0.9
Zaeli Traditional Brazil −13.6 0.8 15 ± 0.9
Sakura Traditional Brazil −13.6 1.6 16 ± 1.0
Fugini Traditional Brazil −13.7 1.3 17 ± 1.0
Sakura Hot Brazil −13.8 0.0 17 ± 1.0
Aro Traditional Brazil −13.9 1.1 18 ± 1.1
Hemmer Traditional Brazil −13.9 1.5 18 ± 1.1
Cereja Light Brazil −14.1 −0.5 19 ± 1.1
Marpa Traditional Brazil −14.1 −1.7 19 ± 1.1
Satis Light Brazil −14.2 −1.5 20 ± 1.2
Kitano Traditional Brazil −14.3 0.1 20 ± 1.2
Siamar Traditional Brazil −14.3 −0.9 20 ± 1.2 Fig. 2. Plot of δ13C vs. δ15N of shoyus from Brazil (closed circle), average shoyu
Kitano Traditional Brazil −14.3 −2.0 21 ± 1.2 from Japan (open diamond, bars indicate standard-deviation), average of soy-
Satis Traditional Brazil −14.4 0.0 21 ± 1.2 bean from Brazil (open triangle, bars indicate standard-deviation), and average
Kitano Traditional Brazil −14.4 −0.8 21 ± 1.2 of maize from Brazil (open square, bars indicate standard-deviation). The upper
Satis Traditional Brazil −14.5 −0.4 21 ± 1.2 x-axis indicates the percentage of soy present in the shoyu estimated by Eq. (2)
Aji no Shoyu Traditional Brazil −14.7 3.6 23 ± 1.4
(see Materials and Methods).
Karui Light Brazil −14.7 −0.2 23 ± 1.4
Hinomoto Light Brazil −14.7 0.9 23 ± 1.4
Sakura Traditional Brazil −14.8 0.0 24 ± 1.4 soybeans (Fig. 2). As the δ15N of soybean and maize were both near
Azuma Traditional Brazil −15.0 0.8 25 ± 1.5
0‰, we could not use δ15N to distinguish the proportions of these two
Hinomoto Light Brazil −15.1 0.6 26 ± 1.6
Sakura Premium Brazil −15.3 0.8 27 ± 1.6 cereals in shoyu samples.
Sakura Premium Brazil −15.4 0.5 28 ± 1.7 Using Eq. (2), we estimated δ13C values equivalent to soybean
Hinomoto Light Brazil −15.6 0.1 29 ± 1.7 contributions intervals of: 0–20%, 20–40%, 40–60%, 60–80%, and
M&K Light Brazil −16.2 −0.6 33 ± 2.0 80–100%. Such proportions are represented at the top x-axis of Fig. 2.
Miyako Traditional Brazil −17.3 0.2 42 ± 2.5
Sakura Light Brazil −17.4 −0.1 42 ± 2.5
Approximately 70% of shoyu samples produced in Brazil contained only
Sakura Light Brazil −17.5 0.7 43 ± 2.6 0–20% soybean (Fig. 2), while 15% of shoyu samples contained 20–40%
Sentir Bem Traditional Brazil −17.7 −0.2 44 ± 2.6 of soybean, and < 10% of shoyu contained 80–100% of soybean
Armazém Traditional Brazil −17.9 2.2 45 ± 2.7 (Fig. 2).
Tozan Light Brazil −19.9 2.5 60 ± 3.6
Azuma Premium Brazil −20.1 0.5 61 ± 3.6
Daimaru Traditional Brazil −22.3 −2.3 77 ± 4.6 4. Discussion
Pure seasoning Traditional Brazil −23.3 1.9 84 ± 5.0
Daimaru Premium Brazil −23.5 0.9 85 ± 5.1
Our null hypothesis was rejected, since shoyu produced in Brazil had
Tozan Traditional Brazil −24.9 0.4 94 ± 5.6
Tozan Traditional Brazil −25.7 1.4 100 ± 6.0 only a small proportion of soy. As the Brazilian law (Resolution number
Tozan Traditional Brazil −27.6 −1.0 100 ± 6.0 12, CNNPA, of July, 24, 1978) has not passed laws about the proportion
of cereals used in the fermentation process, it is dubious if the large

20
M.C. Morais et al.
Fig. 3. Price of soybean and maize per tonne in Brazil from 2007 to 2017 (from
CEPEA (2017)).
amount of maize found in shoyu made in Brazil is a case of food adul-
teration. On the other hand, on ethical grounds, it is hard to accept that
there is little or no soy in most of the shoyu produced in Brazil.
Although we analyzed few samples of shoyu from other countries, it
was equally surprising to report a large content of C4 plants in two
Chinese and one Taiwanese shoyu samples. Sugar is listed as an in-
gredient on the label of these products. It seems reasonable to conclude
that the added sugar was probably derived from sugar cane. However,
using Eq. (2), the concentration of soy in one of the samples was esti-
mated at only 20% (Table 1). In this case, it is difficult to believe that
only C4 sugar was added to this product and probably maize was also
used in the fermentation process.
We believe that the lower cost of maize in comparison with soybean
is the main motivation for Brazilian shoyu producers to use maize in-
stead of soy. Fig. 3 shows that from 2007 to 2017, the average price of
soy was twice that of maize. Therefore, the large use of maize would
significantly decrease the production costs of shoyu in Brazil.
It is also important to mention that shoyu produced in China and
Taiwan had a large proportion of C4 plants, too. These sauces are darker
and thicker than the Japanese and Brazilian ones. Lioe et al. (2010) and
Kamal et al. (2016), investigating Chinese shoyu, also found a high
content of caramel in dark shoyu. Therefore, it is reasonable to spec-
ulate that this caramel was produced from sugar cane or maize. One of
the Chinese shoyu samples that we studied had a δ13C of −15.4‰,
which would indicate that only 20% of the carbon present in this
sample was derived from soy. Whatever the case, the results from China
and Taiwan show that Brazil is not the only country using C4 plants in
shoyu production. However, these results should be viewed with cau-
tion, since we had few samples from China and Taiwan.
It is beyond the objectives of this paper to investigate if shoyu made
in Brazil with small amounts of soybean possesses the same complexity
and distinctiveness as shoyu made elsewhere from soy and wheat. It is
well documented that the combination of soy and wheat give shoyu the
umami flavor, which is due to several different types of compounds
(Lioe et al., 2007, 2010; Kaneko et al., 2011; Kamal et al., 2016). The
21
Journal of Food Composition and Analysis 70 (2018) 18–21
presence of monosodium glutamate as an added ingredient in most
shoyu made in Brazil suggests that the umami flavor cannot be naturally
achieved with a high content of C4 carbon in the shoyu.
Funding
This research did not receive any specific grant from funding
agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.
Acknowledgments
We would like to acknowledge the technicians Maria Antonia and
Geraldo de Arruda for their assistance in the experiment conduction.
Thanks to Amin Soltangheisi for his assistance with English language
grammatical editing.
References
ABRESI Gastronomia, Hospedagem e Turismo, 2015. Francal cria feira para impulsionar
negócios, gastronomia e preservação da memória da culinária japonesa. Retrieved
November 27, from: http://abresi.com.br/francal-cria-feira-para-impulsionar-
negocios-gastronomia-e-preservacao-da-memoria-da-culinaria-japonesa.
Alves, J.R.B., Boddey, R.M., Urquiaga, S., 2003. The success of BNF in soybean in Brazil.
Plant Soil 252 (1), 1–9.
BRAZIL, 2017. Ministry of Tourism. Retrieved June 16, 2017, from http://www.brasil.
gov.br/turismo/2017/06/brasil-tem-1-5-milhao-de-cidadaos-de-origem-japonesa.
CEPEA, 2017. Retrieved December 17, 2017 from: https://www.cepea.esalq.usp.br.
Camin, F., Boner, M., Bontempo, L., Fauhl-Hassek, C., Kelly, S.D., Riedl, J., Rossmann, A.,
2017. Stable isotope techniques for verifying the declared geographical origin of food
in legal cases. Trends Food Sci. Technol. 61, 176–187.
Chalk, P.M., 2016. From production to consumption: tracing C, N and S dynamics in
Brazilian agroecosystems using stable isotopes. Pesquisa Agropecuária Brasileira 51
(9), 1039–1050.
FAOSTAT, 2017. Retrieved December 17, 2017, from: www.faostat.fao.org.br.
Farquhar, G.D., Ehleringer, R.J., Hubick, T.K., 1989. Carbon isotope discrimination and
photosynthesis. Annu. Rev. Plant Physiol. Plant Mol. Biol. 40 (1), 503–537.
Figueira, A.M.S., Davidson, E.A., Nagy, R.C., Riskin, S.H., Martinelli, L.A., 2016.
Isotopically constrained soil carbon and nitrogen budges in a soybean field chron-
osequence in the Brazilian Amazon region. J. Geophys. Res.: Biogeosci. 121 (10),
2520–2529.
Jakobi, V., Salmen, P., Paulus, M., Tolan, M., Rosenhahn, A., 2017. Compositional fin-
gerprint of soy sauces via hydrophobic surface interaction. Food Chem. 218,
256–260.
Kamal, G.M., Wang, X., Yuan, B., Wang, J., Sun, P., Zhang, X., Lui, M., 2016.
Compositional differences among Chinese soy sauce types studied by 13C NMS
spectroscopy coupled with multivariate statistical analysis. Talanta 158, 89–99.
Kaneko, S., Kumazawa, K., Nishimura, O., 2011. Isolation and identification of the umami
enhancing compounds in Japanese soy sauce bioscience. Biotechnol. Biochem. 75 (7),
1275–1282.
Lioe, H.N., Wada, K., Aoki, T., Yasuda, M., 2007. Chemical and sensory characteristics of
low molecular weight fractions obtained from three types of Japanese soy sauce
(shoyu) – Koikuchi tamari and shiro shoyu. Food Chem. 100, 1669–1677.
Lioe, H.N., Selamat, J., Yasuda, M., 2010. Soy Sauce and Its Umami Taste: a link from the
past to current situation. J. Food Sci. 75 (3), 71–76.
Martinelli, L.A., Nardoto, G.B., Chesson, L.A., Rinaldi, F.D., Ometto, J.P.H.B., Cerling,
T.E., Ehleringer, J.R., 2011. Worldwide stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes of Big
Mac® patties: an example of truly glocal food. Food Chem. 127, 1712–1718.
Nunomura, N., Sasaki, M., 1992. Japanese soy sauce flavor with emphasis on off-flavors.
In: Charalambous, G. (Ed.), Off-Flavors in Foods and Beverages. Elsevier Science
Publishers, pp. 287–312.
Steinhaus, P., Schieberle, P., 2007. Characterization of the key aroma compounds in soy
sauce using approaches of molecular sensory science. J. Agric. Food Chem. 55,
6262–6269.