Correlation of characteristic flavor and microbial community in Jinhua ham during the post-ripening stage

Abstract

In this work, the changes in volatile flavor compounds and microbial communities in post-ripening Jinhua ham were analyzed. Hexanal and nonanal were the main flavor substances in Jinhua ham stored for 1-3 years, and the content of which were increasing during the post-ripening stage and finally reached 261.80 μg/100g and 445.33 ± 15.29 μg/100g, respectively. High-throughput sequencing showed that Aspergillus , Saccharomyces , Staphylococcus , and Cobetia were the dominant microorganisms in post-ripening Jinhua ham. The dominant fungi were Aspergillus (post-ripened for 1-2 years) and Saccharomyces (post-ripened for 3 years) . Staphylococcus accounted for the largest proportion of the bacteria in Jinhua ham, and the proportion gradually increased with the passage of time, from 50.21% to 64.66% during the post-ripening. Spearman correlation analysis showed that Saccharomyces ( P < 0.001), Aspergillus ( P < 0.01), and Staphylococcus ( P < 0.05) were positively correlated with the flavor of Jinhua ham in the post-ripening stage. The revealed correlation of microorganisms and the flavor in post-ripening Jinhua ham can be a foundation for the quality improvement of dry-cured ham and the development of fermented meat starter. • Hexanal and nonanal are the main flavor substances in Jinhua ham. • Staphylococcus accounted for the largest proportion in post-ripening Jinhua ham. • The dominant genera in Jinhua ham were Aspergillus or Saccharomyces. • Saccharomyces and Aspergillus were positively correlated with the flavor. • Staphylococcus was positively correlated with the flavor in Jinhua ham.