ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Microbiol.
Sec. Food Microbiology
This article is part of the Research TopicAdvances in Microbial-Based Solutions: Food Coloring, Flavoring and FragranceView all 14 articles
Exploring the Potential of Tobacco Microorganisms for Enhancing the Flavor of Naturally Fermented Essential Oils
Provisionally accepted
- 1Hebei China Tobacco Industry Co., Ltd., Shijiazhuang, China
- 2south china agriculture university, Guangzhou, China
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To isolate and characterize aroma-producing microorganisms from tobacco and evaluate their fermentation potential, twelve strains obtained from tobacco leaves and root soil were identified as members of the genera Enterobacter, Burkholderia, and Pseudomonas. High amylase activity was detected in most Enterobacter and Pseudomonas strains, whereas low cellulase activity and limited ethanol tolerance were generally recorded across all isolates. A total of 174 volatile compounds were detected by HS-SPME-GC-MS, among which alcohols were the most abundant class. Seventy-four odor-active compounds were identified by relative odor activity value analysis, with ketones (2,3-butanedione) and aldehydes ((E,E)-2,4-Decadienal, (E)-2-nonenal) being highlighted as key contributors to sweetness, fatty, and green aroma. The strains were categorized into two metabolic aroma types: ketone type, aldehyde type, which were associated with pyruvate and lipoxygenase pathways. It was demonstrated that microbial metabolic specificity determines aroma profiles, thereby providing a foundation for targeted flavor design through strategic strain selection.
Keywords: Aroma-producing microorganisms, Fermentation characteristics, Metabolic pathways, Sensory analysis, volatileorganic compounds
Received: 08 Jan 2026; Accepted: 05 Feb 2026.
Copyright: © 2026 Yan, He, Hu, Ye, Zhang and Kan. 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:
Zhuming Ye
Yihan Zhang
Qixin Kan
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