EXPLORING THE DYNAMIC CHANGE AND CORRELATIONS BETWEEN MICROBIAL COMMUNITIES AND KEY UMAMI PEPTIDES DURING SUFU FERMENTATION

Abstract

Sufu, a traditional Chinese fermented soya food, is famous for its unique umami flavor. However, there is very little research on umami peptides and their formation mechanisms. This study investigated the dynamic changes of both umami peptides and microbial communities during sufu production. Based on correlational analysis, five lactic acid bacteria (Enterococcus italicus, Leuconostoc citreum, Leuconostoc mesenteroides, Leuconostoc pseudomesenteroides, Tetragenococcus halophilus) and two fungal species (Cladosporium colombiae, Hannaella oryzae) were identified to be the core functional microorganisms for the formation of umami peptides. Functional annotations of the five lactic acid bacteria indicated their second most important function to be amino acid metabolism, which proved their umami peptide-producing ability. Through virtual screening, six core potential novel umami peptides were revealed in ripened sufu. These results enrich the umami peptides and microbial database resources, and provide novel insights for quality control and flavor improvement of fermented tofu products.