Diversity and dynamics stability of bacterial community in traditional solid-state fermentation of Qishan vinegar

Qishan vinegar is a typical Chinese fermented cereal product that is prepared using traditional solid-state fermentation (SSF) techniques. The final qualities of the vinegar produced are closely related to the multiple bacteria present during SSF. In the present study, the dynamics of microbial communities and their abundance in Daqu and vinegar Pei were investigated by the combination of high throughput sequencing and quantitative PCR. Results showed that the Enterobacteriales members accounted for 94.7%, 94.6%, and 92.2% of total bacterial sequences in Daqu Q3, Q5, and Q10, respectively. Conversely, Lactobacillales and Rhodospirillales dominated during the acetic acid fermentation (AAF) stage, corresponding to the quantitative PCR results. Lactobacillus, Acetobacter, Weissella, Leuconostoc and Bacillus were the dominant and characteristic bacterial genera of Qishan vinegar during AAF process. Redundancy analysis suggested that Lactobacillales and Rhodospirillales had a positive correlation with humidity and acidity, respectively. These results confirmed that the bacterial community structure could be affected by physiochemical factors, which determined the unique bacterial composition at different fermentation stages and showed batch-to-batch consistency and stability. Therefore, the conformity of bacterial community succession with physiochemical parameters guaranteed the final quality of Qishan vinegar products. This study provided a scientific perspective for the uniformity and stability of Qishan vinegar, and might aid in controlling the manufacturing process.