A novel strategy for predicting the quality of a base liquor: visual detection of functional bacteria and its application.

Baijiu is the product of the cooperation of a variety of core functional organisms in an open fermentation system. The differences in the structure of these core functional microorganisms are directly related to the quality of the base liquor. Acetilactobacillus jinshanensis is the dominant functional microorganism involved in the process of making Jiang-flavour Baijiu. To quantitatively evaluate the concentration of A. jinshanensis in the fermentation system, a CRISPR/Cas12a-coupled gold nanoparticle visual biosensor was developed. The limit of detection for A. jinshanensis was as low as 1 copy/μL, and its sensitivity exceeded that of the existing quantitative real-time PCR method. Furthermore, this system was employed to determine the concentration of A. jinshanensis during actual Baijiu fermentation. The average fluorescence value of A. jinshanensis in excellent-grade workshop was 4838, while that in ordinary workshops was 2145. The results revealed a linear relationship (R² = 0.845) between the quality of the base liquor and the concentration of A. jinshanensis was obtained. Therefore, the concentration of A. jinshanensis might be used as a new parameter to predict the quality of base liquor and as a regulatory target in the fermentation process, thereby achieving a controllable fermentation process and high quality.