ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Microbiol.
Sec. Microbiotechnology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2025.1632731
Application of Starch-Degradation Bacteria in Cigar Tobacco Leaf Fermentation: Effects on Starch degradation, Microbial Communities and Metabolic Pathways
Provisionally accepted
Yuming Yin1
Xueru Song2Yonghe Cui2Jilai Zhang1
Kejian Fu3Qi Zhou1Yuxing Feng1Jiakui Huang1Chenglei Hu1Yishu Deng1*Youbo Su1*- 1Yunnan Agricultural University, Kunming, China
- 2Yunnan Tobacco Company, Yuxi City Corporation, Yuxi, China
- 3Yunnan Yuntianhua Co., Ltd., Research and Development Center, Kunming, China
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【Objective】This study aims to explore the effects of inoculating starchdegrading strains on the starch content and microbial metabolic pathways of cigar tobacco leaves.【Method】By isolating and screening starch-degradation bacteria from the surface of Dominican tobacco leaves at the end of fermentation and applying them to the fermentation process of "Yunxue NO. 39" cigar tobacco leaves. The study systematically analyzed the starch content, microbial diversity and community structure, starch metabolic enzyme profiles and key metabolic pathway changes in tobacco leaves fermented for 18 and 35 days, integrating physicochemical composition, non-targeted metabolomics and metagenomics.【Result】The results indicated that both strains B. pumilus and B. velezensis (DX and BLS) exhibited strong starch degradation capabilities. Inoculation with starch-degradation bacteria significantly enhanced the diversity of the microbial community, enriched functional microbial community (such as Bacillus, Acinetobacter, Staphylococcus and Aspergillus), markedly influenced the composition of tobacco leaf metabolites and optimized the micro-environment of tobacco leaf fermentation. Metagenomic analysis revealed that the dynamic changes of starch metabolic enzymes (such as α-amylase, β-amylase and glucoamylase) during the fermentation process were closely related to the succession of the microbial community, with Bacillus and Aspergillus promoting starch degradation through synergistic interactions. KEGG pathway analysis revealed that starch metabolism is primarily accomplished through four core pathways: starch and sucrose metabolism, amino sugar and nucleotide sugar metabolism, glycolysis/gluconeogenesis and mycolic acid biosynthesis. This study provides a theoretical basis for the quality improvement of cigar tobacco leaves and confirms the potential application value of starch-degradation bacteria in tobacco fermentation.
Keywords: cigar, Fermentation, starch-degradation bacteria, microbial community, metabolic pathway 1 Introduction
Received: 22 May 2025; Accepted: 08 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Yin, Song, Cui, Zhang, Fu, Zhou, Feng, Huang, Hu, Deng and Su. 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:
Yishu Deng, Yunnan Agricultural University, Kunming, China
Youbo Su, Yunnan Agricultural University, Kunming, China
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