The influence of cardamine hupingshanensis on the microbial community structure of jiuqu and the variation of flavor during the fermentation process of selenium-rich Chinese huangjiu

The objective of this study was to investigate the influence of cardamine hupingshanensis on the microbial community structure of jiuqu and flavor of the Chinese huangjiu, further exploring the feasibility of developing selenium-rich huangjiu. Two types of selenium enriched jiuqu (SMJJQ1 and SMJJQ2) were prepared using different amounts of cardamine hupingshanensis. The 16S rDNA high-throughput sequence results showed that the richness, evenness, and diversity of the fungal and bacterial community in SMJJQ1 jiuqu were better than those in the SMJJQ2 jiuqu. There were significant differences in microorganism community composition among the three jiuqu samples SMJJQ1, SMJJQ2, and traditional wheat Qu (MQ). The quality characteristics and sensory evaluation of huangjiu brewed with SMJJQ1 jiuqu were better than those of SMJJQ2. The content of selenium was 123.51 μg/L in huangjiu brewed with SMJJQ1 jiuqu. The solid-phase microextraction gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (SPME-GC-MS) and gas chromatography-olfaction (GC-O) results showed that the main volatile flavor components and aroma in huangjiu were significantly changed throughout the fermentation process of jiuqu containing cardamine hupingshanensis, compared with those of MQ. This variation was mainly due to the difference in the microbial communities in different jiuqu. These findings provide new insights into the development of selenium-rich functional huangjiu.