Microbial interactions and dynamic changes of volatile flavor compounds during the fermentation of traditional kombucha

This study aims to explore the core microbiota of kombucha and to discover potential correlations between microbiota and volatile flavor compounds. The total acidity and microbial colony numbers changed dramatically in different fermentation periods of kombucha. Microbial analysis based on high throughput sequencing technology showed that the bacteria of Komagataeibacter, Pseudomonas, Burkholderia, Ralstonia, Halomonas, Sphingomonas and fungi of Dekkera, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Botryotrichum, Monascus, Pichia were the dominant genera. In addition, the correlation coefficients between the bacteria and fungi were different. The volatile flavor compounds of alcohols, acids, esters, aldehydes, ketones, phenolics, and terpenes were identified using headspace solid-phase microextraction combined with gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry. Typically, the concentrations of ethanol, acetic acid, and ethyl acetate was 71.59–248.23 μg/L, 97.73–849.00 μg/L, and 44.52–181.59 μg/L, respectively, during fermentation. This study is helpful to understand the dynamic changes of microbial communities and volatile flavor compounds during the fermentation of kombucha.