Microbial succession drives flavor development in low-salt fermented bamboo shoots: A correlation analysis of...

This study investigates the critical role of microbial succession in flavor formation during low-salt (1 % NaCl) fermentation of Jipo bamboo shoots (JPBS). Results demonstrated that texture was significantly correlated with pH and organic acids (p < 0.01), with lactic and quinic acids dominant in the final fermentation stage. Based on a flavor wheel constructed from 27 key flavor compounds (OAV > 1), 2,4-dimethylbenzaldehyde was identified as the main contributor to the aroma. High-throughput sequencing revealed a microbial succession from Bacillus to Lactobacillus (10.54 %) and unclassified Enterobacteriaceae (59.81 %), whose abundance correlated with acid and flavor accumulation (r = 0.76-0.95). Lactococcus abundance positively correlated with 2,4-dimethylbenzaldehyde. KEGG predictions highlighted carbohydrate metabolism (e.g., glycolysis) and amino acid metabolism (e.g., branched-chain amino acid degradation) as key pathways for flavor compound synthesis. This study lays the foundation for optimizing low-salt bamboo shoot fermentation technology.