Unique Microbial Diversity and Metabolic Pathway Features of Fermented Vegetables From Hainan, China

Abstract

Fermented vegetables are typically traditional foods made of fresh vegetables and their juices, which are fermented by beneficial microorganisms. Herein, we applied high-throughput sequencing and culture-dependent technology to describe the diversities of microbiota and identify core microbiota in fermented vegetables from different areas of Hainan Province, and abundant metabolic pathways in the fermented vegetables were simultaneously predicted. At the genus level, Lactobacillus bacteria were the most abundant. Lactobacillus plantarum was the most abundant species, followed by Lactobacillus fermentum, Lactobacillus pentosaceus, and Weissella cibaria. These species were present in each sample with average absolute content values greater than 1% and were thus defined as core microbiota. Analysis results based on the alpha and beta diversities of the microbial communities showed that the microbial profiles of the fermented vegetables differed significantly based on the regions and raw materials used, and the species of the vegetables had a greater effect on the microbial community structure than the region from where they were harvested. Regarding microbial functional metabolism, we observed an enrichment of metabolic pathways, including membrane transport, replication and repair and translation, which implied that the microbial metabolism in the fermented vegetables tended to be vigorous. In addition, Lactobacillus plantarum and Lactobacillus fermentum were calculated to be major metabolic pathway contributors. Finally, we constructed a network to better explain correlations among the core microbiota and metabolic pathways. This study facilitates an understanding of the differences in microbial profiles and fermentation pathways involved in the production of fermented vegetables, establishes a basis for optimally selecting microorganisms to manufacture high-quality fermented vegetable products, and lays the foundation for better utilizing tropical microbial resources.

Microbiota Succession and Chemical Composition Involved in the Radish Fermentation Process in Different Containers

“…The microbial metabolism of carbohydrate, lipids, and proteins produce the complex compounds which form the sensory properties of fermented food (Liang et al, 2018b). Previous research had reported that carbohydrate metabolism, amino acid metabolism, nucleotide metabolism, and energy metabolism were the main pathways in metabolism (Liang et al, 2018a,b;Peng et al, 2018). Our results agreed with these findings, indicating that the top 3 pathways were carbohydrate metabolism, amino acid metabolism, and energy metabolism.…”

Characterization of Diversity and Probiotic Efficiency of the Autochthonous Lactic Acid Bacteria in the Fermentation of Selected Raw Fruit and Vegetable Juices

“…In our study the microbial community structure in different samples showed no significant differences in α- and β- diversity; however, the dominant genera were variable. This contradicts with the results of the microbial profiles reported in other fermented vegetables, which significantly differed based on their region of origin and raw materials used ( Peng et al, 2018 ). The results of difference analysis concerning the abundance of predominant genera in the five samples are depicted in Figure 3 .…”

Lactobacillus paracasei HD1.7 used as a starter modulates the bacterial community and metabolome profile during fermentation of Chinese cabbage

“…Moreover, the various index values of fermented cabbage were significantly higher than those of the other three fermented vegetables, implying that the microbial diversity and uniformity of the fermented cabbage was the highest (Peng et al . ). This present study offered five‐day dynamic data based on the abovementioned statistical indexes (Table ).…”

“…Moreover, Lactobacillus bacteria were also the most abundant genus in fermented vegetables in Hainan province of China regardless of the sampling regions and vegetable species (Peng et al . ). Several prevalent LAB genera in kimchi, such as Leuconostoc , Weissella and Pediococcus (Chang and Chang ; Jeong and Lee ) were present in this research but never dominated during the fermentation process, probably because of their weaker resistance to acidity, origination from other raw materials (such as garlic or onions) or failure in competition for nutrients with Lactobacillus .…”