The potential correlation between the succession of microflora and volatile flavor compounds during the production of Zhenba bacon

Bo Ning; Yao Zuo; Ling Wang; Lianxu Zhu; Hongqiang Ren; Shanshan Wang; Wenxian Zeng; Hongzhao Lu; Tao Zhang

doi:10.1016/j.fochx.2024.101478

The potential correlation between the succession of microflora and volatile flavor compounds during the production of Zhenba bacon

Food Chem X. 2024 May 20:22:101478. doi: 10.1016/j.fochx.2024.101478. eCollection 2024 Jun 30.

Authors

Bo Ning¹, Yao Zuo¹, Ling Wang^{1

2

3

4}, Lianxu Zhu^{2

3}, Hongqiang Ren^{2

3}, Shanshan Wang^{1

2

3

4}, Wenxian Zeng^{1

3

4}, Hongzhao Lu^{1

2

3

4}, Tao Zhang^{1

2

3

4}

Affiliations

¹ School of Biological Science and Engineering, Shaanxi University of Technology, 723001 Hanzhong, China.
² Shaanxi University Engineering Research Center of Quality Improvement and Safety Control of Qinba Special Meat Products, 723001 Hanzhong, China.
³ Shaanxi Union Research Center of University and Enterprise for Zhenba Bacon, 723001 Hanzhong, China.
⁴ Qinba State Key Laboratory of Biological Resources and Ecological Environment, Hanzhong, 723001, Shaanxi, China.

Abstract

Microbial composition plays an important role in the quality and flavor of bacon. The aims of this study were to detect bacterial community succession using high-throughput sequencing (HTS) and volatile flavor compound changes using gas chromatography-ion mobility spectrometry (GC-IMS) during the production of Zhenba bacon. The results showed that a total of 70 volatile compounds were detected. Among them, ketones, hydrocarbons, aldehydes, esters and alcohols were the main substances in the curing and smoking stages. In addition, the fungal abundance was greater than the bacterial abundance, and there was obvious succession of the microbial community with changes in fermentation time and processing technology. The main functional bacterial genera in the curing and smoking stages were Staphylococcus, Psychrobacter and Latilactobacillus, and the main fungal genera were Fusarium and Debaryomyces. Through correlation analysis, we found that pyrrole, 2-pentanol, methyl isobutyl ketone (MIBK) and ethyl acetate (EA) were significantly correlated with Staphylococcus, Psychrobacter, Pseudomonas and Myroides (p < 0.01), and it is speculated that they contribute significantly to flavor formation. The results of this study are helpful for understanding the microbial dynamics and characteristic volatile flavor compounds in Zhenba bacon, and provide new insights into the relationship between microorganisms and flavor through potential correlations.

Keywords: 2-Pentanol (PubChem CID: 22386); Correlation analysis; Ethyl acetate (PubChem CID: 8857); Guaiacol (PubChem CID: 460); Hexanal (PubChem CID: 6184); High-throughput sequencing; Methyl isobutyl ketone (PubChem CID: 7909); Microbial communities; Pyrrole (PubChem CID: 8027); Volatile flavor compounds; Zhenba bacon.