Construction of a Fermented Food Database

Japanese traditional fermented foods are characterized by their diversity. We constructed a fermented food database. The distinguishing features of the database are as follows: First, the database can store several types of data with the principal four data types: fermented foods, microorganisms, materials, and cultures; and supporting data such as documents and references. Second, the user interface enables users to operate the database while the data is being presented. Users often come up with new ideas in this environment. Third, statistical data can be easily retrieved from the database. For example, the total number of food cultures related to "miso" stored in the database was 204: which included 25 places, 1 occasion, 79 persons, 17 events, and 43 expressions, among other entries. To use this database as a portal site for fermented foods, we will continue to collect source data for storing in the database.