title: Batch-to-batch uniformity of bacterial community succession and flavor formation in the fermentation of Zhenjiang aromatic vinegar.
abstract: Solid-state fermentation of traditional Chinese vinegar is a mixed-culture refreshment process that proceeds for many centuries without spoilage. Here, we investigated bacterial community succession and flavor formation in three batches of Zhenjiang aromatic vinegar using pyrosequencing and metabolomics approaches. Temporal patterns of bacterial succession in the Pei (solid-state vinegar culture) showed no significant difference (P > 0.05) among three batches of fermentation. In all the batches investigated, the average number of community operational taxonomic units (OTUs) decreased dramatically from 119 ± 11 on day 1 to 48 ± 16 on day 3, and then maintained in the range of 61 ± 9 from day 5 to the end of fermentation. We confirmed that, within a batch of fermentation process, the patterns of bacterial diversity between the starter (took from the last batch of vinegar culture on day 7) and the Pei on day 7 were similar (90%). The relative abundance dynamics of two dominant members, Lactobacillus and Acetobacter, showed high correlation (coefficient as 0.90 and 0.98 respectively) among different batches. Furthermore, statistical analysis revealed dynamics of 16 main flavor metabolites were stable among different batches. The findings validate the batch-to-batch uniformity of bacterial community succession and flavor formation accounts for the quality of Zhenjiang aromatic vinegar. Based on our understanding, this is the first study helps to explain the rationality of age-old artistry from a scientific perspective.
authors.affiliation: School of Pharmaceutical Science, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, PR China; The Key Laboratory of Industrial Biotechnology, Ministry of Education, School of Biotechnology, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, PR China.
authors.forename: Zong-Min
authors.initials: ZM
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: School of Pharmaceutical Science, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, PR China; Tianjin Key Laboratory for Industrial Biological Systems and Bioprocessing Engineering, Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Tianjin 300308, PR China.
authors.forename: Zhen-Ming
authors.initials: ZM
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.affiliation: Jiangsu Hengshun Vinegar Industry Co., Ltd., Zhenjiang 212043, PR China.
authors.forename: Yong-Jian
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: Jiangsu Hengshun Vinegar Industry Co., Ltd., Zhenjiang 212043, PR China.
authors.forename: Guo-Quan
authors.initials: GQ
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: School of Pharmaceutical Science, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, PR China; National Engineering Research Center of Solid-State Brewing, Luzhou 646000, PR China.
authors.forename: Jin-Song
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.affiliation: School of Pharmaceutical Science, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, PR China; Tianjin Key Laboratory for Industrial Biological Systems and Bioprocessing Engineering, Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Tianjin 300308, PR China; National Engineering Research Center of Solid-State Brewing, Luzhou 646000, PR China. Electronic address: zhenghxu@jiangnan.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Zheng-Hong
authors.initials: ZH
authors.lastname: Xu
mesh_terms: D019342:Acetic Acid / Q000378:metabolism; D000091:Acetobacter / Q000378:metabolism; D001419:Bacteria / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000378:metabolism; D002681:China; D005285:Fermentation; D005421:Flavoring Agents / Q000378:metabolism; D005516:Food Microbiology; D059014:High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing; D007778:Lactobacillus / Q000378:metabolism; D055432:Metabolomics; D059013:Microbial Consortia
chemical_list: D005421:Flavoring Agents; D019342:Acetic Acid
keywords: Batch uniformity; Microbial community; Solid-state fermentation; Zhenjiang aromatic vinegar