Correlational Analysis of the Physicochemical Indexes, Volatile Flavor Components, and Microbial Communities of High-Temperature Daqu in the Northern Region of China.

Daqu is a microbial-rich baijiu fermentation starter. The high-temperature Daqu plays an essential role in the manufacturing of sauce-flavored baijiu. However, few studies have focused on three kinds of high-temperature Daqu (white, yellow, and black Daqu) in northern China. In this study, the physicochemical indexes, volatile flavor compounds, and microbial characteristics of the three different colors of high-temperature Daqu in northern China were comparatively analyzed to reveal their potential functions. White Daqu (WQ) exhibited the highest liquefying power and starch, and black Daqu (BQ) showed the highest saccharifying and esterifying powers. A total of 96 volatile components were identified in the three types of Daqu, and the contents of the volatile components of yellow Daqu (YQ) were the highest. The microbial community structure analysis showed that Bacillus and Byssochlamys were dominant in BQ, Kroppenstedtia and Thermoascus were dominant in WQ, and Virgibacillus and Thermomyces dominated the YQ. The RDA analysis revealed the correlation between the dominant microorganisms and different physicochemical indexes. The Spearman correlation analysis indicated that Oceanobacillus, Saccharopolyspora, Staphylococcus, Pseudogracilibacillus, Byssochlamys, and Thermomyces showed positive correlations with part of the majority of the key volatile flavor compounds. This work provides a scientific basis for the actual production of different colors of high-temperature Daqu in the northern region of China for sauce-flavored baijiu.

Correlation between microbial communities and flavor compounds during the fifth and sixth rounds of sauce-flavor baijiu fermentation.

Sauce-flavor baijiu is a representative of Chinese traditional fermented baijiu using grains as the raw materials through the co-fermentation of microorganisms. The whole manufacturing process includes 7 times of distillation and generates 7 kinds of base baijius. The final product is a mixture of the 7 kinds of base baijius. Thus the base baijius greatly affect the quality of the final product. The quality of the base baijiu obtained by the sixth distillation is obviously poorer than that of the fifth one. However, the reason is still unclear and limits the quality control of baijiu fermentation. In this study, the flavor substances and microbiota in the up, middle and bottom layers of fermented grains in the fifth and sixth rounds were compared. Some flavor esters showed obviously decreased concentrations in the sixth round, including ethyl benzoneacetic acid, ethyl hexanoic acid, ethyl dodecanoic acid, diethyl butanedioic acid, and ethyl 2-hydroxyl-propanoic acid. Meanwhile, an off-flavor p-cresol was detected in the sixth round. Correlation analysis of flavor chemicals and microbiota indicated that fungi in the fifth round played an important role for ester synthesis. Some bacterial and fungal species were both positively correlated with p-cresol synthesis, and the related p-cresol metabolic pathways were proposed for the first time. These results revealed flavor divergences of fermented grains between the fifth and sixth rounds, and will ultimately help to improve baijiu quality.