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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Microbiol.
Sec. Microbiotechnology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2025.1538773

Comparison of Lignin Degradation and Flavor Compound Formation in Roasted Tobacco by Two Bacillus subtilis Strains

Provisionally accepted
Junmin Wang Junmin Wang 1Teng Long Teng Long 2*Zhenkun Jiang Zhenkun Jiang 2*Wenjun Mu Wenjun Mu 3*Mingliang Su Mingliang Su 2*Li Ni Li Ni 1Shunhua Ji Shunhua Ji 2*雨晴 Wang 雨晴 Wang 1Kangxi Zhou Kangxi Zhou 2*Renfeng Zhan Renfeng Zhan 2*Lixuan Nie Lixuan Nie 2*Jingjing Li Jingjing Li 2*Xingchuan Hu Xingchuan Hu 2*Wei He Wei He 2*Wen Zhang Wen Zhang 1*
  • 1 Food Nutrition and Health Research Center, School of Advanced Manufacturing, Fuzhou University, Fuzhou, China
  • 2 Fujian China Tobacco Industry Co., Ltd, Xiamen, Fujian Province, China
  • 3 Beijing Institutes of Life Science (CAS), Beijing, Beijing Municipality, China

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

    Two strains of Bacillus subtilis designated YY-10 and BY-2, were isolated from the surface of tobacco and found to be capable of significant lignin degradation. The predominant lignin-degrading enzymes produced by these strains were lignin peroxidase (LiP) and manganese peroxidase (MnP), respectively. A notable distinction was observed in the organoleptic evaluation and volatile flavor compounds, as determined by sensory evaluation and GC-MS analysis. The content of volatile flavor compounds, such as geranylacetone, meglumine trienone B, and meglumine trienone C, was found to be significantly increased in roasted tobacco treated with YY-10. This treatment has been shown to reduce the astringent flavor of the roasted tobacco and improve the aroma, which in turn could improve the quality of the roasted tobacco. Conversely, the quality and aroma levels of the roasted tobacco treated with the crude enzyme solution of the BY-2 strain were reduced. Transcriptome analysis revealed that the expression of genes related to amino acid metabolism, genetic material biosynthesis, and protein synthesis was up-regulated in the YY-10 strain compared with the BY-2 strain, which promoted the biosynthesis of LiP. This study provides a preliminary elucidation of the potential mechanism by which YY-10 enhances the quality of tobacco leaves through lignindegrading enzyme production, thus establishing a research foundation for the subsequent treatment of waste tobacco raw materials and industrial applications.

    Keywords: Roasted tobacco, Lignin peroxidase, Lignin-degrading bacteria, Transcriptome, flavor

    Received: 03 Dec 2024; Accepted: 09 Jan 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Wang, Long, Jiang, Mu, Su, Ni, Ji, Wang, Zhou, Zhan, Nie, Li, Hu, He and Zhang. 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:
    Teng Long, Fujian China Tobacco Industry Co., Ltd, Xiamen, 361012, Fujian Province, China
    Zhenkun Jiang, Fujian China Tobacco Industry Co., Ltd, Xiamen, 361012, Fujian Province, China
    Wenjun Mu, Beijing Institutes of Life Science (CAS), Beijing, 100101, Beijing Municipality, China
    Mingliang Su, Fujian China Tobacco Industry Co., Ltd, Xiamen, 361012, Fujian Province, China
    Shunhua Ji, Fujian China Tobacco Industry Co., Ltd, Xiamen, 361012, Fujian Province, China
    Kangxi Zhou, Fujian China Tobacco Industry Co., Ltd, Xiamen, 361012, Fujian Province, China
    Renfeng Zhan, Fujian China Tobacco Industry Co., Ltd, Xiamen, 361012, Fujian Province, China
    Lixuan Nie, Fujian China Tobacco Industry Co., Ltd, Xiamen, 361012, Fujian Province, China
    Jingjing Li, Fujian China Tobacco Industry Co., Ltd, Xiamen, 361012, Fujian Province, China
    Xingchuan Hu, Fujian China Tobacco Industry Co., Ltd, Xiamen, 361012, Fujian Province, China
    Wei He, Fujian China Tobacco Industry Co., Ltd, Xiamen, 361012, Fujian Province, China
    Wen Zhang, Food Nutrition and Health Research Center, School of Advanced Manufacturing, Fuzhou University, Fuzhou, 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.