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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Microbiol.
Sec. Food Microbiology
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2024.1421928
This article is part of the Research Topic Fermented Foods: Characterization of the Autochthonous Microbiota View all 9 articles

Effects of sorghum varieties on microbial communities and volatile compounds in the fermentation of light-flavor Baijiu

Provisionally accepted
Jie Tang Jie Tang 1*Bin Lin Bin Lin 1Yimin Shan Yimin Shan 1Song Ruan Song Ruan 1Wei Jiang Wei Jiang 1Qun Li Qun Li 1Zhu Liping Zhu Liping 1Rui Li Rui Li 1Qiang Yang Qiang Yang 1Hai Du Hai Du 2Shengzhi Yang Shengzhi Yang 1Qi Sun Qi Sun 1Shenxi Chen Shenxi Chen 1*
  • 1 Jing Brand Co., Ltd,, Daye, China
  • 2 Jiangnan University, Wuxi, Jiangsu Province, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Light-flavor Baijiu (LFB) fermentation is a representative spontaneous mixed-culture solid-state fermentation process in which sorghum is used as the raw material. Raw materials and microorganisms are crucial to the flavor formation and quality of LFB. However, the microbial and physicochemical dynamics of different sorghum varieties during LFB fermentation, as well as their impact on flavor compounds are still largely unknown. Herein, PacBio single-molecule real-time (SMRT) sequencing and headspace solid-phase microextraction coupled with gas chromatographymass spectrometry (HS-SPME-GC-MS) were applied to investigate microbial community succession and volatile flavor formation in glutinous/non-glutinous sorghum-based fermented grains during LFB fermentation. Fermented grains made of glutinous sorghum Liangnuo No. 1 (GLN) had higher bacterial α-diversity and lower fungal α-diversity than those with fermented grains prepared with non-glutinous red sorghum (NRS) (p < 0.05). The dominant microbial species were Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Acetobacter pasteurinus, and Lactobacillus helveticus, the latter two of which were the predominant bacteria observed at the end of fermentation in GLN and NRS, respectively. Moisture content and reducing sugar had a more significant impact on the microorganisms in GLN, while amino acid nitrogen, total free amino acids, and residual starch were the main driving factors driving the microbial community in NRS. The correlation network and discriminant analysis indicated that a relatively high content of 4-vinylguaiacol showed a significant positive association with significant differential microbial species in GLN. These results provided valuable insights for improving the quality of LFB.

    Keywords: Light-flavor Baijiu, sorghum varieties, Fermented grains, microbial community, volatile compounds

    Received: 23 Apr 2024; Accepted: 08 Jul 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Tang, Lin, Shan, Ruan, Jiang, Li, Liping, Li, Yang, Du, Yang, Sun and Chen. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Jie Tang, Jing Brand Co., Ltd,, Daye, China
    Shenxi Chen, Jing Brand Co., Ltd,, Daye, China

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