Aspergillus oryzae

Aspergillus oryzae
A. oryzae growing on rice to make koji
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukarya
Kingdom:	Fungi
Division:	Ascomycota
Class:	Eurotiomycetes
Order:	Eurotiales
Family:	Trichocomaceae
Genus:	Aspergillus
Species:	A. oryzae
Binomial name
Aspergillus oryzae (Ahlburg) E. Cohn

Aspergillus oryzae
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese	麴
Simplified Chinese	麹
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin qū Wade–Giles ch'ü1 IPA [tɕʰý] Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization kūk Southern Min Tâi-lô khak Middle Chinese Middle Chinese kʰjowk Old Chinese Baxter-Sagart *kʰ(r)ok
Korean name
Hangul	누룩곰팡이
Transcriptions McCune–Reischauer nuruk-gompang-i
Japanese name
Kanji	麹
Transcriptions Romanization kōji

Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyin	qū
Wade–Giles	ch'ü1
IPA	[tɕʰý]
Yue: Cantonese
Yale Romanization	kūk
Southern Min
Tâi-lô	khak
Middle Chinese
Middle Chinese	kʰjowk
Old Chinese
Baxter-Sagart	*kʰ(r)ok

Transcriptions
McCune–Reischauer	nuruk-gompang-i

Transcriptions
Romanization	kōji

Aspergillus oryzae, known in English as koji (Japanese: 麹, Hepburn: kōji^?), is a filamentous fungus (a mold) used in Chinese and other East Asian cuisines to ferment soybeans for making soy sauce and fermented bean paste, and also to saccharify rice, other grains, and potatoes in the making of alcoholic beverages such as huangjiu, sake, makgeolli, and shōchū. The domestication of A. oryzae occurred at least 2000 years ago.A. oryzae is also used for the production of rice vinegars.

Dr. Eiji Ichishima of Tohoku University called the kōji fungus a "national fungus" (kokkin) in the journal of the Brewing Society of Japan, because of its importance not only for making the koji for sake brewing, but also for making the koji for miso, soy sauce, and a range of other traditional Japanese foods. His proposal was approved at the society's annual meeting in 2006.

"Red kōji-kin" is a separate species, Monascus purpureus.

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