Fungal community structure and succession of light-flavor Baijiu during fermentation process

Microbial community structure and succession during Baijiu fermentation influence significantly on the flavor and quality of products. Integrated study of high-throughput sequencing with culture-based method and physicochemical analysis was carried out to compare fungal composition of light-flavor Baijiu (LFB) in two localities of the Niulanshan Distillery Factory, Shunyi of Beijing (SY) and Lvliang of Shanxi (LL). The results indicated that the dominant groups of fungi in all samples of fermentation grains (FG) were Ascomycota and Mucoromycota. The abundancy and diversity of fungi were higher in FG from SY. The LFB from both areas exhibited variation in functional fungi, with Cyberlindnera , Pichia and thermophilic fungi significantly enriched in SY samples ( P < 0.05). Physicochemical analysis showed that the two localities shared similar development trends. The culture-dependent analysis revealed that fungal diversity in LL fermentation environment (FE) was higher. Fifty and 59 species were recognized from SY and LL, with 22 co-occurrence ones. This study analyzed fungal profiles in regional LFB, revealing mycobiota structure and environmental drivers of fungal communities. Moreover, the fungal repository laid the foundation for screening excellent functional strains for brewing and contributed intelligent brewing. • The light-flavor liquor from two areas exhibited divergencies in functional fungi. Our research conducted a comparative analysis of biogeographical variation in common functional fungi within Niulanshan light-flavor Baijiu fermentation ecosystems, explicating region-specific fungal community patterns and their physicochemical drivers. We established a culturable fungal repository for Niulanshan light-flavor Baijiu, making it possible to study the functional genome of fermentation fungi, so as to advance precision microbial management in fermentation processes.