Succession sequence of lactic acid bacteria driven by environmental factors and substrates throughout the brewing process of Shanxi aged vinegar.

Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) are essential microbiota for the fermentation and flavor formation of Shanxi aged vinegar, a famous Chinese traditional cereal vinegar that is manufactured using open solid-state fermentation (SSF) technology. However, the dynamics of LAB in this SSF process and the underlying mechanism remain poorly understood. Here, the diversity of LAB and the potential driving factors of the entire process were analyzed by combining culture-independent and culture-dependent methods. Canonical correlation analysis indicated that ethanol, acetic acid, and temperature that result from the metabolism of microorganisms serve as potential driving factors for LAB succession. LAB strains were periodically isolated, and the characteristics of 57 isolates on environmental factor tolerance and substrate utilization were analyzed to understand the succession sequence. The environmental tolerance of LAB from different stages was in accordance with their fermentation conditions. Remarkable correlations were identified between LAB growth and environmental factors with 0.866 of ethanol (70 g/L), 0.756 of acetic acid (10 g/L), and 0.803 of temperature (47 °C). More gentle or harsh environments (less or more than 60 or 80 g/L of ethanol, 5 or 20 g/L of acetic acid, and 30 or 55 °C temperature) did not affect the LAB succession. The utilization capability evaluation of the 57 isolates for 95 compounds proved that strains from different fermentation stages exhibited different predilections on substrates to contribute to the fermentation at different stages. Results demonstrated that LAB succession in the SSF process was driven by the capabilities of environmental tolerance and substrate utilization.