Microbiome and Volatile Metabolic Profile of Acetic Acid Fermentation Using Multiple Starters for Traditional Grain Vinegar

Abstract

Traditional grain vinegar is fermented using multiple acetic acid bacteria (AAB) at various temperatures. A single AAB showed high acid-producing ability at 30 °C with a 5% alcohol concentration and an initial pH adjusted to 4.0. Multiple AAB were similar to a single AAB; however, the optimal initial pH was 3.0. Acid production ability according to the type of AAB was higher in multiple AAB than in single AAB. That is, using multiple AAB helped increase the titratable acidity of traditional grain vinegar. In addition, increasing the titratable acidity and content of volatile flavor compounds was advantageous when two, rather than four, AAB types were mixed and used. The titratable acidity was high at medium temperatures (30 °C); however, volatile flavor compounds increased at low temperatures (20 °C) under multiple AAB. A 16S rDNA-based microbiome taxonomic profiling analysis identified differences in beta diversity due to multiple AAB and fermentation temperatures. In particular, beta diversity analysis revealed a specific pattern when a mixture of Acetobacter ascedens GV–8 and Acetobacter pasteurianus GV–22 was fermented at a low temperature (20 °C). Therefore, we propose the application of multiple AAB with acidic and flavor-producing properties in traditional grain vinegar.