Integrated Meta-omics Approaches To Understand the Microbiome of Spontaneous Fermentation of Traditional Chinese Pu-erh Tea

Abstract

Fermented foods play important roles in diets worldwide and account for approximately one-third of all foods and beverages consumed. To date, traditional fermentation has used spontaneous fermentation. The microbiome in fermentation has direct impacts on the quality and safety of fermented foods and contributes to the preservation of traditional methods. Here, we used an integrated meta-omics approach to study the microbiome in the fermentation of pu-erh tea, which is a well-known Chinese fermented food with a special flavor and healthful benefits. This study advanced the knowledge of microbiota, metabolites, and enzymes in the fermentation of pu-erh tea. These novel insights shed light onto the complex microbiome in pu-erh fermentation and highlight the power of integrated meta-omics approaches in understanding the microbiome in food fermentation ecosystems.

Correlation analysis between filamentous fungi and chemical compositions in a pu‐erh type tea after a long‐term storage

“…Solid‐state fermentation plays an important role in the processing of pu‐erh tea (Abe et al, 2008). Fungi have profound impact on substance metabolisms and show correlation with quality formation of pu‐erh tea (Zhao et al, 2013, 2019). So far, A. niger, Aspergillus tubingensis, Aspergillus fumigatus, Aspergillus acidus, Aspergillus awamori, A. tamarii, Aspergillus sydowii, Blastobotrys adeninivorans, Candida tropicalis, Fusarium graminearum, Pichia farinosa, Rasamsonia byssochlamydoides, Rasamsonia emersonii, Rasamsonia cylindrospora, Rhizomucor pusillus, Rhizomucor tauricus , and Thermomyces lanuginosus have been detected in solid‐state fermentation of pu‐erh tea as dominant fungi (Wang et al, 2011; Zhang et al, 2016; Zhao et al, 2015; Zhou et al, 2018).…”

Metaproteomics insights into traditional fermented foods and beverages

“…In contrast to metagenomics and metatranscriptomics, metaproteomics can be used to explore the functions and key enzymes of TFFB microorganisms at the protein level and to enhance an understanding of the TFFB ecosystem. The microorganisms and functions of the metaproteome in the brewing process of TFFB, as studied by metaproteomics, are shown in Figure 5 (Cárdenas et al., 2014; Gagnaire et al., 2004; Wang, Wu, Xu, & Sun, 2018a, 2020a; Xie et al., 2019a; Zhao et al., 2019; Zheng et al., 2015).…”

Isolation, characterization and application of theophylline-degrading Aspergillus fungi

“…Pu-erh tea is one of the most representative dark tea and natural microorganisms involved in solid-state fermentation (SSF) play an important role in tea processing [23,24]. Microorganisms including bacteria and fungi have profound impact on substance metabolisms and correlation with quality formation of pu-erh tea [25][26][27]. A. niger, Aspergillus tubingensis, Aspergillus fumigatus, Aspergillus acidus, Aspergillus awamori, A. tamarii, Blastobotrys adeninivorans, Candida tropicalis, Fusarium graminearum, Pichia farinosa, Rasamsonia byssochlamydoides, Rasamsonia emersonii, Rasamsonia cylindrospora, Rhizomucor pusillus, Rhizomucor tauricus and Thermomyces lanuginosus have been detected in pu-erh tea [28][29][30][31].…”