Microorganisms, Quality Changes, and Process Optimization in Fermented Vegetable Processing

Traditional fermented vegetables are recognized as one of the most iconic fermented food categories worldwide, widely favoured by consumers for their distinctive flavour profiles, abundant probiotics beneficial to human gut health, and a diverse array of bioactive compounds with potential nutritional and functional value. Conventional spontaneous fermentation, relying on native microorganisms in raw materials and the surrounding environment, remains the major manufacturing approach for such products up to now. This paper elaborates on a series of dynamic changes occurring during vegetable fermentation, including shifts in microbial community structure from initial colonization to dominant species proliferation, flavor evolution, and variations in physicochemical properties, as well as the specific processes and underlying mechanisms of sensory quality alterations. It further summarizes the optimization strategies for modern fermented vegetable production, identifies the key challenges existing in the current industry, and prospects the future development trends, aiming to provide solid theoretical guidance for the higher-quality evolution of the global fermented vegetable sector.