Baijiu, one of the world’s oldest distilled liquors, is widely consumed globally and has gained increasing popularity in East Asia. However, a comprehensive understanding of the underlying principles behind this traditional liquor product remains elusive. Currently, Baijiu is facing the industrial challenge of modernization and standardization, particularly in terms of food quality, safety, and sustainability. The current study selected a Lactobacillus brevis strain based on experiments conducted to assess its environmental tolerance, enzyme activity, and fermentation performance, and highlight its exceptional fermentation characteristics. The subsequent analysis focused on examining the effects of fortifying the fermentation process of L.brevis on key microbiotas, physicochemical parameters, and volatile profiles. The qPCR results revealed that the inoculated L. brevis strategically influenced the the composition of the dominant microbial communities by promoting mutual exclusion, ultimately leading to improved controllability of the fermentation process. Moreover, the metabolism of the inoculated L. brevis provided more compounds for the formation of flavor profiles during fermentation (the content of ethyl acetate was increased to 57.76 mg/kg), leading to a reduction in fermentation time (from 28 d to 21 d). These findings indicate promising potential for the application of the indigenous strain in Baijiu production.

Sufu is a pleasant-tasting, traditional Chinese fermented soybean food that is rich in nutrients. In this study, the changes of volatile and nonvolatile metabolites in sufu fermented by bacillus licheniformis, were investigated. The results indicated that a total of 55 kinds of nonvolatile compounds were detected, including 2 carbohydrates, 4 alcohols, 17 amino acids, 18 organic acids, 6 biogenic amines, and 8 other substances. Furthermore, a total of 58 volatile compounds identified were composed of 11 esters, 16 alcohols, 10 acids, and 21 miscellaneous compounds. Inoculation of bacillus licheniformis enriched the metabolite profile of sufu and improved its functionality and safety of edibility. It was observed that the pure fermented starter resulted in controlled acceleration of sufu maturation.