Dynamic changes in microbial communities and flavor during different fermentation stages of proso millet Baijiu, a new product from Shanxi light-flavored Baijiu

• Published in: Frontiers in microbiology 2024, Vol.15, p.1333466-1333466
• Main Authors: Zhao, Jia, Gao, Zhenfeng
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Baijiu; fermentation; flavor; microbial community; Microbiology; proso millet
• ISSN: 1664-302X; 1664-302X
• DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2024.1333466

Proso millet, a high-quality fermentation material used for Chinese yellow wine production, can produce special flavored substances; however, its role in improving the flavor and altering microbial communities of light-flavored Baijiu during fermentation remain unknown. Thus, we aimed to investigate the effect of proso millet on improving the flavor of light-flavored Baijiu and altering microbial communities during different fermentation stages. The dynamic changes in the microbial communities and flavor of proso millet (50%) + sorghum (50%) mixed fermentation samples were analyzed through intermittent sampling on days 7, 14, 21, and 28 of the fermentation process. Microbial high-throughput sequencing and the analysis of flavor characteristics were conducted through 16S DNA/ ITS amplicon sequencing and gas chromatography (multi-capillary column)-ion mobility spectrometry, respectively. Proso millet significantly changed the core flavor compound composition of traditional light-flavored Baijiu from ethyl acetate, ethyl hexanoate, ethyl hexanoate dimer, ethyl butanoate, ethyl lactate, and butyl acetate to oct-2-ene, 2-butanol, propyl propanoate, 2-pentenal, and 4-methylpentanal. The amplicon sequencing analysis revealed that the alpha diversity parameters of bacterial and fungal communities, including the Chao1, Pielou_e, Shannon, and Simpson indices, for proso millet-sorghum mixed fermentation samples were significantly higher than those for sorghum fermentation samples (