Evaluation of Steaming and Drying of Black Sesame Seeds for Nine Cycles Using Grey-Correlation Analysis Based on Variation-Coefficient Weight.

This study aimed to improve the steaming process of black sesame seeds. A comprehensive evaluation was conducted using the grey-correlation method based on the variation-coefficient weight to observe the treatments of normal-pressure (NPS) and high-pressure (HPS) steaming (with/without soaking in water) for nine cycles. Their effects on the contents of water, protein, fat, ash, melanin, sesamin, and sesamolin of black sesame seeds, as well as the sensory score of the black sesame pill, were determined. We found that with varied steaming methods and increased steaming cycles, the contents of the nutritional and functional components of black sesame seeds and the sensory score of the black sesame pill differed. The results of the variation-coefficient method showed that water, protein, fat, ash, melanin, sesamin, sesamolin, and sensory score had different effects on the quality of black sesame seeds with weighting factors of 34.4%, 5.3%, 12.5%, 11.3%, 13.9%, 11.3%, 7.8%, and 3.5%, respectively. The results of two-factor analysis of variance without repeated observations indicated that the grey-correlation degree of HPS was the largest among the different steaming treatments, and the following sequence was HPS after soaking in water (SNPS), NPS, and SNPS. There was no significant difference between NPS and SNPS (p < 0.05). Moreover, with increased cycles, the value of the grey-correlation degree increased. The comprehensive score of the procedure repeated nine times was significantly higher than other cycles (p < 0.05). The results of the grey-correlation degree and grade analysis showed that the best steaming process of black sesame seeds was HPS for nine cycles, followed by HPS for eight cycles and NPS after soaking in water (SNPS) for nine cycles. These findings could provide a scientific basis for replacing SNPS with HPS to simplify steaming and realize the parametric steaming of black sesame seeds, and thus, ensure the quality of black-sesame products.

Metagenomic Profiling of the Bacterial Community Changes from Koji to Mash Stage in the Brewing of Soy Sauce.

The improvement of soy sauce fermentation is restricted by the insufficient information on bacterial community. In this study, bacterial communities in the koji and mash stage were compared based on next-generation sequencing technology. A total of 29 genera were identified in the koji stage, while 34 in the mash stage. After koji stage, 7 genera disappeared and 12 new genera appeared in the mash stage. The dominant bacteria were Kurthia, Weissella and Staphylococcus in the koji stage and Staphylococcus, Kurthia, Enterococcus and Leuconostoc in the mash stage. The results provided insights into the microbial communities involved in soy sauce fermentation.

Profiling of dynamic changes in the microbial community during the soy sauce fermentation process.

Soy sauce is a traditional condiment manufactured by natural inoculation and mixed culture fermentation. As is well known, it is the microbial community that plays an important role in the formation of its flavors. However, to date, its dynamic changes during the long period of fermentation process are still unclear, intensively constraining the improvement and control of the soy sauce quality. In this work, we revealed the dynamic changes of the microbial community by combining a cultured dependent method and a cultured independent method of polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis. Results indicated that the two methods verified and complemented each other in profiling microbial community, and that significant dynamics of the microbial community existed during the fermentation process, especially the strong inhibition of the growth of most of the microbes when entering into the mash stage from the koji stage. In the analysis of bacterial community, Staphylococcus and Bacillus were found to be the dominant bacteria and detected in the whole fermentation process. Kurthia and Klebsiella began to appear in the koji stage and then fade away in the early stage of the mash fermentation. In the analysis of fungal community, Aspergillus sojae and Zygosaccharomyces rouxii were found to be the dominant fungi in the koji and mash fermentation, respectively. It was clearly shown that when A. sojae decreased and disappeared in the middle stage of the mash fermentation, Z. rouxii appeared and increased at the meantime. Aspergillus parasiticus, Trichosporon ovoides and Trichosporon asahii also appeared in the koji and the early period of the mash fermentation and disappeared thereafter. Similar to Z. rouxii, Millerozyma farinosa and Peronospora farinosa were also found spontaneously which appeared in the mid-late period of the mash fermentation. The principal component analysis suggested that the microbial community underwent significant changes in the early period of the fermentation and, thereafter, tended to the stabilization in the mid-late periods. This study gave us important clues to understand the fermentation process and can serve as a foundation for improving the quality of soy sauce in the future.