Exploring the diversity and role of microbiota during material pretreatment of light-flavor Baijiu.

Baijiu (Chinese liquor) is a type of traditional distilled alcoholic beverage produced through spontaneous solid-state fermentation with sorghum as the primary material. Material processing, including sorghum soaking, steaming and cooling which is carried out in an open environment, is an integral part of Baijiu manufacturing. However, the microbiota involved in material pretreatment and its associate with the alcoholic fermentation is unclear. This research is aimed to exploring the diversity and role of microbiota during material pretreatment of light-flavor Baijiu. Results showed that Cyanobacteria, Epicoccum, and Cladosporium predominated in the sorghum at the beginning of soaking. Lactobacillus and Pichia became the predominant bacterial and fungal genera by the end of soaking. With the dynamics of microbiota, the pH declined sharply and the categories and concentration of volatile flavors such as alcohols, esters, acids, phenols, ketones, and aldehydes increased. Correlation analysis indicated that Lactobacillus and Pichia showed positive correlation with various flavors during soaking. Furthermore, SourceTracker analysis revealed that the microbiota involved during cooling processing was an important source of the Lactobacillus during fermentation of light-flavor Baijiu. This study illustrates the role of microbiota during material pretreatment and the association with alcoholic fermentation, which contributes to reveal the mechanism of Baijiu manufacturing.

Case report: Rare benign obstructive disease of the biliary tract-a rare case of eosinophilic cholangitis.

Objective: Eosinophilic cholangitis (EC) is an uncommon form of benign biliary obstruction. It frequently eludes accurate clinical diagnosis, leading to inappropriate treatment methods. It is our aspiration that this clinical report will impart comprehensive insights into EC and, specifically, the critical role of tomographic examination. Case summary: A 34-year-old man was urgently admitted to the hospital due to excruciating abdominal distress persisting for several hours. Following a six-day course of anti-inflammatory therapy, his symptoms displayed marginal improvement, prompting his discharge. He returned to the hospital a month later for re-examination on doctor's orders. Based on the results of the re-examination, the patient refused steroid hormone shock therapy and subsequently underwent laparoscopic left-lateral hepatic lobectomy in order to confirm the diagnosis. The preoperative absolute counts of eosinophils in the peripheral blood were documented as 2.3 × 109/L, 3.06 × 109/L, and 1.50 × 109/L consecutively; concurrently, the corresponding percentages of eosinophils were quantified at levels of 21.90%, 30.70%, and 19.20%. The subsequent postoperative pathological assessment unveiled EC as the definitive diagnosis. The patient has since remained free from disease recurrence and is presently alive. Conclusion: When encountering a patient presenting with persistent elevation in absolute eosinophil count in peripheral blood, coupled with imaging manifestations suggestive of intrahepatic periductal inflammation, diagnosis of EC should be highly suspected. The most optimal diagnostic and therapeutic workflow for EC could entail CT-guided liver lesion biopsy, ensued by glucocorticoid pulse therapy, and finally, short-term monitoring utilizing CT or MRI (including T1WI, T2WI, DWI, CEMRI) techniques.

A new isoflavone from the stems of Derris eriocarpa How.

A preliminary screening test was performed to discover new antihyperlipidaemic active compounds from the leguminous plant Derris eriocarpa How. A new compound, derris-isoflavone F (1), and derrubone dimethyl ether (6), a known synthetic compound of natural origin, were isolated from the stems of D. eriocarpa alongside eight recognised compounds. To our knowledge, this is the first instance of documenting the identification of compounds 1-10 from this plant. The new compound were evaluated for their antihyperlipidemic and antiproliferative properties. Compound 1 evidently reduced the triglyceride (TG) content in oleic acid-treated HepG2 cells, which validated its efficacy as a potential TG-lowering agent.

Characterization and comparison of the bacterial community on environmental surfaces through a fresh-cut vegetables processing line in China.

Zoning is typically adopted by food manufacturers and classified into three different zones including Zone 1 (food contact surface), Zone 2 (proximity to food and food contact surfaces) and Zone 3 (remote surfaces from processing). In this study, environmental surfaces belonging to these three zones were sampled during food processing in a fresh-cut vegetables (FVs) processing facility located in Beijing, China. Bacterial loads in terms of aerobic plate count and coliform count were evaluated by culture-dependent techniques. The profile and diversity of bacterial community in these three zones were investigated by high-throughput sequencing. Zone 1 showed similar microbiota and predominated by Pseudomonas and Acinetobacter, while the predominant genera on Zone 2 or 3 were quite varied among different processing steps. The SourceTracker analysis showed that most of the bacteria (above 80%) on surfaces were from unknown sources, while sorting and disinfection & cleaning steps contributed equally to the bacterial community of cutting areas. Microbial association network analysis revealed strong positive interactions of Comamonas and Janthinobacterium with Myroides and Serratia, respectively, whereas Pseudomonas showed no significant correlation with other genera. The function of microbial communities was predicted based on BugBase 16S rRNA database, and the results indicated that the proportions of potential biofilm-forming bacteria were above 70% in all samples, and species of Pseudomonas, Comamonas, Chryseobacterium and Janthinobacterium were opportunistic pathogens or spoilage bacteria. This study evaluated the bacteria risks including bacterial load, composition, as well as potential bacterial interaction, function and microbial transfer on food processing surfaces, which will facilitate our better understanding on the cross-contaminations and preventions of harmful microorganism in FVs processing industry.

Effect of the environment microbiota on the flavour of light-flavour Baijiu during spontaneous fermentation.

Light-flavour Baijiu is a type of Chinese liquor with a pure and mild flavour produced by traditional spontaneous solid-state fermentation. The flavour of this liquor has been found to vary in the different periods of annual production. To explore the factors affecting flavour, the microbiota of the surrounding environment, starter and fermentation process in different periods were investigated. Results showed that the ester content and acidity of light-flavour Baijiu were significantly lower when annual production was resumed after a summer break. HCA plot of volatile flavour profile and bacterial PCoA results indicated that the differences occurred at later stages, mainly due to different structures of Lactobacillus. Correlation analysis by O2PLS indicated that Lactobacillus positively correlated with esters. Species-level analysis showed that the lack of L. acetotolerans on the surface of the jar might cause a lag in fermentation and lower ester content. Thereafter, L. acetotolerans was revived during fermentation and enriched on the surface of the jar, which promoted ester formation. As important sources of L. acetotolerans, the air and fermentation jars played a critical role during fermentation. Therefore, this systematic study on environmental microbial ecology is valuable for quality control and to explore environmental microbiota functions during spontaneous fermentation.