Recent advances in applying omic technologies for studying acetic acid bacteria in industrial vinegar production: A comprehensive review

Abstract

Vinegar and related bioproducts containing acetic acid as the main component are among the most appreciated fermented foodstuffs in numerous European and Asian countries because of their exceptional organoleptic and bio‐healthy properties. Regarding the acetification process and obtaining of final products, there is still a lack of knowledge on fundamental aspects, especially those related to the study of biodiversity and metabolism of the present microbiota. In this context, omic technologies currently allow for the massive analysis of macromolecules and metabolites for the identification and characterization of these microorganisms working in their natural media without the need for isolation. This review approaches comprehensive research on the application of omic tools for the identification of vinegar microbiota, mainly acetic acid bacteria, with subsequent emphasis on the study of the microbial diversity, behavior, and key molecular strategies used by the predominant groups throughout acetification. The current omics tools are enabling both the finding of new vinegar microbiota members and exploring underlying strategies during the elaboration process. The species Komagataeibacter europaeus may be a model organism for present and future research in this industry; moreover, the development of integrated meta‐omic analysis may facilitate the achievement of numerous of the proposed milestones. This work might provide useful guidance for the vinegar industry establishing the first steps towards the improvement of the acetification conditions and the development of new products with sensory and bio‐healthy profiles adapted to the agri‐food market.

Implementation of a Novel Method for Processing Proteins from Acetic Acid Bacteria via Liquid Chromatography Coupled with Tandem Mass Spectrometry

“…LC–MS/MS allowed us to not only characterize the metaproteome composition but also the function of the natural raw material acetification profiles and perform a detailed comparative study between them [ 39 ]. The quantitative analyses, through protein quantification values, determined different metabolic strategies; K. europaeus , as the most representative species, prevailed over the rest of the microbiota by leveraging the resources of each raw material according to three mechanisms: (1) metabolizing acetic acid via the TCA cycle to replenish cellular material losses; (2) utilizing excess glucose through the pentose phosphate pathway and glycolysis; and (3) triggering proton motive force-dependent membrane mechanisms to detoxify the cell at the end of acetification [ 38 , 53 ]. Although many of the identified key metabolic processes during vinegar production were consistent with those reported in other studies, LC–MS/MS not only allowed the description of some of them in more detail, as well as the enrichment of the K. europaeus proteome, but also provided more accurate quantification values than other proteomic techniques, covering a wider coverage of proteins along the acetification profile, thus allowing a comprehensive study of the dynamics of the process [ 31 , 32 , 34 ].…”