Correlations between microbiota succession and volatile profiles development and biogenic amine formation involved in the ripening of Chinese sour meat

Abstract

Sour meat is a traditional fermented meat in China, and the fermentation process of sour meat is very important for quality and flavor. The aim of this study was to gain deeper knowledges on the microbial community dynamics and their relationship with volatile flavor compounds and biogenic amines accumulation during sour meat fermentation. The findings indicated that Staphylococcus and Lactiplantibacillus were the main genus of bacteria, Kurtzmaniella, Saccharomyces and Monascus were the dominant fungal genus during the fermentation. A total of 24 characteristic flavor substances (OAV >1) were the mainly contributors of volatiles and four kind of biogenic amines were detected. Correlation analysis exhibited that Lactiplantibacillus and Staphylococcus were positively correlated with 12 main flavor substances such as Ethyl valerate and Ethyl hexanoate. Saccharomyces was positively correlated with Phenethyl alcohol and Linalool. In addition to starter cultures , Candida was also responsible for the formation of flavor compounds. Moreover, Pearson correlation analysis between microbial succession and biogenic amines showed that Saccharomyces and Lactiplantibacillus were negatively correlated with spermine (P < 0.05). Biological amine metabolism was the result of a combination of bacteria and fungi. These findings provide a reference for improving the flavor and safety of traditional fermented sour meat.