Correlation between Microbial Diversity and Non-Volatile Flavor Quality of Traditional Hurood from Xilingol League

Abstract

In this study, we aimed to investigate the correlation between the microbial community structure and flavor substances in traditional Hurood from Xilingol League, Inner Mongolia. We used Miseq sequencing technology to analyze the diversity of bacteria and fungi in the traditional Hurood. Amino acid analyzer, electronic nose, and electronic tongue were used to determine the flavor. The correlation between the microflora and flavor was analyzed. The results indicated that in traditional Hurood, the dominant bacterial genera were Lactobacillus, Lactococcus, Streptococcus, Acetobacter, and Leuconostoc, and dominant fungal genera were Dipodascus, Saccharomyces, Candida, Torulaspora, Kluyveromyces, and Pichia. Traditional Hurood contained 16 types of amino acids, and the contents of umami amino acids (glutamic acid and aspartic acid) were relatively higher (5.94 and 1.99 mg/100 g, respectively). In the taste analysis using electronic tongue, bitter, salty, aftertaste-A, and aftertaste-B exhibited the strongest response signals. Pichia was positively correlated with aftertaste-A and astringency (p < 0.01). Naganishia was positively correlated with astringency (p < 0.01). Lactobacillus was significantly positively correlated with the 10 sensors of electronic nose (p < 0.01) and significantly negatively correlated with afterflavor-A (p < 0.01). In view of the small production scale and low output of traditional Hurood, this study provided theoretical basis for modern industrial production of high-quality products of traditional Hurood.

Keywords: Hurood, Microbial community, Amino acid, Non-volatile flavor substance