Laboratory of Bioresources, College of Food Science and Engineering, Northwest A&F University, Shaanxi Province, 712100, Yangling, China.
Science Center for Future Foods, Jiangnan University, 1800 Lihu Road, Wuxi, Jiangsu Province, 214122, China.
Appl Biochem Biotechnol. 2024 Jan;196(1):506-521. doi: 10.1007/s12010-023-04486-x. Epub 2023 May 6.
The process of tobacco aging plays a significant role in enhancing the smoking experience by improving the flavor and quality of tobacco leaves. During natural aging, the metabolic activity of the microbes on the surface of tobacco leaves will be greatly changed. Besides, starch and protein are two of the main macromolecular compounds causing the poor smoking quality of tobacco leaves which to be degraded for better tobacco quality. In this study, a bacterium with the simultaneously degrading ability of starch (degradation rate of 33.87%) and protein (degradation rate of 20%) has been screened out from high-class tobacco leaf and then inoculated into low-class tobacco leaf by solid-state fermentation for quality improvement. The changes in components related to carbon and nitrogen showed that the strain had an obvious effect on the quality improvement of tobacco leaves. After that, GC-MS analyses displayed the volatile flavor compounds which become rich and the flavor has been improved. It has been proved that inoculation solid-state fermentation by dominant strain could improve tobacco quality, as well as instead of the traditional natural aging process which greatly shortens the aging process. The work also offers a helpful strategy for solid-state products for deep fermentation.
烟草陈化过程对改善烟叶的风味和品质具有重要作用，从而提升吸烟体验。在自然陈化过程中，烟叶表面微生物的代谢活动会发生很大变化。此外，淀粉和蛋白质是导致烟叶抽吸品质较差的两种主要的高分子化合物，它们的降解有利于提高烟叶质量。本研究从高档烟叶中筛选出一株同时具有降解淀粉（降解率 33.87%）和蛋白质（降解率 20%）能力的细菌，然后通过固态发酵接种到低等级烟叶中以改善其质量。与碳、氮相关成分的变化表明，该菌株对烟叶的提质效果明显。随后，GC-MS 分析显示挥发性风味化合物变得丰富，风味得到改善。接种固态发酵优势菌株可以改善烟叶质量，并且可以替代传统的自然陈化过程，大大缩短陈化过程。该工作为固态发酵产品的深度发酵提供了一种有益的策略。
