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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Microbiol.
Sec. Microbe and Virus Interactions with Plants
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2024.1451582
This article is part of the Research Topic Tobacco Disease and Biological Control View all 4 articles

Effects of Phaffia rhodozyma on microbial community dynamics and tobacco quality during tobacco fermentation

Provisionally accepted
Jing Mai Jing Mai 1Ming J. Zhu Ming J. Zhu 1*BIN-BIN HU BIN-BIN HU 2Hong Zhang Hong Zhang 3Zhong H. Liu Zhong H. Liu 3Jian F. Sun Jian F. Sun 3Yang Hu Yang Hu 4Lu Zhao Lu Zhao 2
  • 1 South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China
  • 2 Yunnan Academy of Tobacco Agricultural Sciences, Yuxi, Yunnan, China
  • 3 China National Tobacco Corporation Yunnan Company, Kunming, China
  • 4 Other, Chuxiong, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Carotenoids are important precursors of various aroma components in tobacco and play an important role in the sensory quality of tobacco. Phaffia rhodozyma is a species of Xanthophyllomyces capable of synthesizing a highly valuable carotenoid-astaxanthin, but has not yet been used in improving tobacco quality. In this study, P. rhodozyma could grow and produce carotenoids in tobacco extract, with a maximum biomass of 6.50 g/L and a maximum carotenoid production of 36.13 mg/L at 100 g/L tobacco extract. The effects of P. rhodozyma on the dynamic changes of microbial communities and metabolites in tobacco were revealed based on microbiome and metabolomics techniques. Meanwhile, the correlation analysis combined with microbiome and metabolomics showed that P. rhodozyma was significantly positively correlated with 11 metabolites such as 6-hydroxyluteolin and quercetin. Furthermore, the contents of alcohols, ketones and esters, which were important aromatic components in fermented tobacco, reached 77.57 μg/g, 58.28 μg/g and 73.51 μg/g, increasing 37.39%, 265.39% and 266.27% compared to the control group, respectively. Therefore, the aroma and flavor, and taste scores of fermented tobacco increased by 0.5 and 1.0 points respectively, leading to improved sensory quality. This study provides a novel microbial fermentation method to improve tobacco quality.

    Keywords: Carotenoids, microbial community, Metabolomics, Tobacco fermentation, Aroma component

    Received: 19 Jun 2024; Accepted: 02 Sep 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Mai, Zhu, HU, Zhang, Liu, Sun, Hu and Zhao. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Ming J. Zhu, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510 641, Guangdong Province, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.