Gong Xuefeng, Xu Yi, Hou Sihao, Li Hong, Chen Xin, Song Zhanfeng
Horticulture Research Institute, Sichuan Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Chengdu, 610066, China.
Vegetable Germplasm Innovation and Variety Improvement Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Chengdu, 610066, China.
Environ Microbiome. 2025 May 30;20(1):59. doi: 10.1186/s40793-025-00717-2.
Red pepper sauce is a traditional Chinese condiment, which is rich in nutrients and popular worldwide. However, the changes in the microbial community of red pepper sauce during fermentation and the effects of such changes on quality stability have been under studied. In this study, we systematically analyzed the relationship between the microbial community composition of multiple red pepper sauces and the biochemical indexes. Moreover, we also explored the dynamics of changes in the microbial community composition using metabarcoding sequencing.
Our analysis revealed significant differences in amino acids (AA), lactate, pectin, reducing sugar, flavonoids, phenolics, pigments, and alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) activity among the six red pepper sauces. Moreover, the relative abundance of bacteria and fungi showed significant differences among multiple red pepper sauces. Among these biochemical indexes, water content, pigment, and capsaicin showed a significant negative correlation with the abundance of multiple bacterial genera. ADH activity showed a significant positive correlation with the abundance of multiple bacterial genera. The content of AA, flavonoid, pectin, and gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) was significantly correlated with the relative abundance of multiple fungi such as Rhodotorula, Dipodascus, Leucosporidium, Hannaella, and Coniochaeta.
These results provide a basis for revealing the biological basis of the quality stability and flavor characteristics of red pepper sauce, which are of great significance for further investigation of the fermentation mechanism and control of the product quality of red pepper sauce.
辣椒酱是一种传统的中国调味品，营养丰富，在全球范围内广受欢迎。然而，辣椒酱发酵过程中微生物群落的变化及其对品质稳定性的影响尚未得到充分研究。在本研究中，我们系统地分析了多种辣椒酱的微生物群落组成与生化指标之间的关系。此外，我们还利用宏条形码测序技术探究了微生物群落组成的动态变化。
我们的分析表明，六种辣椒酱在氨基酸（AA）、乳酸、果胶、还原糖、黄酮类化合物、酚类化合物、色素和乙醇脱氢酶（ADH）活性方面存在显著差异。此外，多种辣椒酱之间细菌和真菌的相对丰度也存在显著差异。在这些生化指标中，水分含量、色素和辣椒素与多种细菌属的丰度呈显著负相关。ADH活性与多种细菌属的丰度呈显著正相关。AA、黄酮类化合物、果胶和γ-氨基丁酸（GABA）的含量与红酵母属、双足囊菌属、隐球酵母属、汉逊酵母属和锥毛壳属等多种真菌的相对丰度显著相关。
这些结果为揭示辣椒酱品质稳定性和风味特征的生物学基础提供了依据，对进一步研究辣椒酱的发酵机制和产品质量控制具有重要意义。
