Soy sauce aroma type baijiu (also known as Maotai-flavor baijiu) is one of the most popular types of baijiu in China. Traditionally, it is mainly produced in Southwest China. However, in recent decades, some other regions in China have also been able to produce high-quality soy sauce aroma type baijiu, but their microbial flora characteristics during fermentation are still unclear. Here, the bacterial microbial community structure of fermented grains in different rounds of Lutaichun soy sauce aroma type baijiu produced in North China was studied by high-throughput sequencing technology, and the potential probiotics strains with good characteristics (alcohol tolerance, etc.) were screened. The results showed that lactic acid bacteria were the main bacteria in the process of baijiu fermentation. However, as the number of repeated fermentation rounds increased, the proportion of lactic acid bacteria decreased. Firmicutes (96.81%) were the main bacteria in baijiu fermentation at the phylum level, and Lactobacillus (66.50%) were the main bacteria at the genus level. Finally, two strains with high resistance to alcohol stress, Lactiplantibacillus plantarum LTJ12 and Pediococcus acidilactici LTJ28, were screened from 48 strains of lactic acid bacteria in the fermented grains. The survival rates of L. plantarum LTJ12 and P. acidilactici LTJ28 under the 8% alcohol stress treatment were 59.01% and 55.50%, respectively. To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first to reveal the microbial succession of fermented grains in different rounds of soy sauce aroma type baijiu from North China, and has the benefit of explaining the deep molecular mechanism in the process of baijiu fermentation. In addition, the obtained lactic acid bacteria strains with high alcohol tolerance could be conducive to the development of new products such as active probiotic alcoholic beverages and may have important industrial development prospects also.

Lactic acid bacteria have received a significant amount of attention due to their probiotic characteristics. The species Lactiplantibacillus plantarum and Lactiplantibacillus pentosus are genotypically closely related, and their phenotypes are so similar that they are easily confused and mistaken. In the previous study, an ethanol-resistant strain, LTJ12, isolated from the fermented grains of soy sauce aroma type baijiu in North China, was originally identified as L. plantarum through a 16S rRNA sequence analysis. Here, the genome of strain LTJ12 was further sequenced using PacBio and Illumina sequencing technology to obtain a better understanding of the metabolic pathway underlying its resistance to ethanol stress. The results showed that the genome of strain LTJ12 was composed of one circular chromosome and three circular plasmids. The genome size is 3,512,307 bp with a GC content of 46.37%, and the number of predicted coding genes is 3248. Moreover, by comparing the coding genes with the GO (Gene Ontology), COG (Cluster of Orthologous Groups) and KEGG (Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes) databases, the functional annotation of the genome and an assessment of the metabolic pathways were performed, with the results showing that strain LTJ12 has multiple genes that may be related to alcohol metabolism and probiotic-related genes. Antibiotic resistance gene analysis showed that there were few potential safety hazards. Further, after conducting the comparative genomics analysis, it was found that strain LTJ12 is L. pentosus but not L. plantarum, but it has more functional genes than other L. pentosus strains that are mainly related to carbohydrate transport and metabolism, transcription, replication, recombination and repair, signal transduction mechanisms, defense mechanisms and cell wall/membrane/envelope biogenesis. These unique functional genes, such as gene 2754 (encodes alcohol dehydrogenase), gene 3093 (encodes gamma-D-glutamyl-meso-diaminopimelate peptidase) and some others may enhance the ethanol tolerance and alcohol metabolism of the strain. Taken together, L. pentosus LTJ12 might be a potentially safe probiotic with a high ethanol tolerance and alcohol metabolism. The findings of this study will also shed light on the accurate identification and rational application of the Lactiplantibacillus species.

Brown rice (BR) has gradually become a new choice for consumers due to its exceptionally nutritional value. Whereas starch retrogradation profoundly reduces its edibility, shelf-life and consumer acceptance, limiting the development of BR and even other starch-based food products. So, it is crucial for controlling the retrogradation properties of brown rice starch (BRS), and which has received significant attention in the food industry. Enzymatic modification is considered as an effective manner to retard starch retrogradation by degrading starch to an appropriate extent. Ganoderma lucidum can secrete various hydrolytic enzymes related to starch hydrolysis, providing a theoretical basis and feasibility for improving the starch retrogradation. Our study delves into characteristic changes of brown rice (BR) and its starch (BRS) when modified by the intracellular enzyme of Ganoderma lucidum, which contains several inhibiting retrogradation enzymes (GlIRE), mainly including α-amylase, β-amylase, and cellulase. GlIRE treatments significantly decreased the setback viscosity to 1544.33 ± 24.01 cP (2 h), diffraction intensities and relative crystallinity to 21.90 ± 0.06% (2 h) and 19.22 ± 0.19% (3 h) as per RVA and XRD analysis, accompanied with more pits and pores in surface morphology. The DSC analysis showed that GlIRE treatments significantly depressed the gelatinization enthalpy to 5.86 ± 0.46 J/g (2 h) and retrogradation enthalpy. FT-IR analysis also indicated the contribution of GlIRE treatments to retard starch retrogradation, including shifting the peaks of 3500 cm⁻¹-3200 cm⁻¹ to lower wave numbers and decreasing the transmittance, as well as R₁₀₄₇/R₁₀₂₂ values reducing from 0.87 to 0.73, mainly due to the shortening of starch chain length and the weakening of hydrogen bonding strength between or within the molecular chains. Simultaneously, it aslo found that GlIRE treatments effectively improved the textural properties of BR, with reducing of hardness, chewiness and gumminess, and increasing of adhesiveness. Interestingly, GC-MS analysis showed that GlIRE treatments could also significantly affect the types and contents of volatile compounds in BR. Our study highlights the efficacy of GlIRE in starch retrogradation and rice quality-improvement, showcasing a new expansion of the research and application of G. lucidum and a science-based strategy for developing the edible quality of starch-based food.

Alcoholic liver disease is one of the diseases with a high mortality rate worldwide, resulting from excessive and chronic alcohol consumption. With the rapid rise of intestinal microbial research, more and more researchers have begun to focus on the role of probiotics in preventing, alleviating or treating diseases. In this study, effects of lactic acid bacteria (LAB), a general type of probiotic, isolated from the fermented grains of Chinese baijiu, on alcohol-induced liver injury and alcohol metabolism were investigated, and the results showed that Lactiplantibacillus pentosus LTJ12, Pediococcus acidilactici LTJ28, Lactiplantibacillus plantarum LTJ30, and Pediococcus acidilactici LTJ32 could prevent drunkenness and sober up, and had a good protective effect on alcoholic liver injury. These LAB, especially Lactiplantibacillus, can reduce the drunken rate and mortality of drinking mice, shorten the sobriety time, decrease the content of ethanol in serum, reduce the activity or content of aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), triglyceride (TG) and malondialdehyde (MDA), increase the activity or content of superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione (GSH) and nitric oxide (NO), and also improve the activity of alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) and acetaldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) of the liver. The LAB intervention basically reversed the changes in the mRNA levels of genes related to ethanol/drug metabolism (CYP2E1, ADH1 and ALDH2), antioxidant markers (SOD2 and CAT), cellular inflammation, apoptosis and proliferation (SIRT1, SMYD3 and BRD4) and lipid metabolism (SREBP1 and FASn). In addition, we have found that the regulatory effect of these probiotics may be related to the SMYD3/BRD4 pathway, which needs further detailed research. Besides, the probiotics increased the abundance of gut microbes, restored the imbalance of the intestinal flora caused by alcohol consumption, and regulated the changes in the intestinal short-chain fatty acid content caused by chronic alcohol consumption. These results suggested that these baijiu-derived probiotics can effectively prevent drunkenness and chronic alcoholic liver injury. It is of great significance to provide scientific basis for subsequent research and development of new anti-alcoholism health products based on probiotics and the intestinal microecological regulation mechanism.

Objectives: Hyperuricemia (HUA) is a metabolic disorder linked to serious complications, yet current treatments face safety limitations. This study aimed to identify novel probiotic strains from Chinese Baijiu fermentation grains with dual-action mechanisms for HUA management—direct uric acid (UA) reduction and gut microbiota restoration. Methods: Two Lactiplantibacillus plantarum strains (LTJ1/LTJ48) were screened for purine/nucleoside degradation using HPLC. Their efficacy was evaluated in HepG2 cells and HUA mice. Key assessments included UA levels, renal/hepatic markers (AST, CRE, BUN), ADA/XOD activity, UA transporter expression (URAT1, GLUT9, ABCG2), and 16S rRNA-based microbiota analysis. Results: LTJ1/LTJ48 degraded >97% of purines/nucleosides in vitro. In HUA mice, they reduced serum UA by 31.0% (LTJ1) and 51.5% (LTJ48), improved renal/hepatic function, and suppressed ADA activity. They modulated UA transporters and restored gut microbiota. Conclusions: LTJ1/LTJ48 exhibit multi-target HUA alleviation via purine degradation, ADA inhibition, UA transporter regulation, and microbiota remodeling, offering a safer probiotic-based alternative to conventional therapies. Their translational potential warrants further clinical exploration.