Airborne microbes in five important regions of Chinese traditional distilled liquor (Baijiu) brewing: regional and seasonal variations

Abstract

Baijiu is one of the six primary distilled spirits in the world. It is produced through the solid-state fermentation of grains in the open environment, so high-quality Baijiu brewing largely depends on terrior. Environmental microbes are one of the most important factors affecting the quality, quantity, and flavors of Baijiu . As atmosphere is a pool and transport pathway for microbes from the ambient environment to Baijiu brewing ecosystems, we explored the functional microbes of Baijiu brewing in five important regions. The regions fell into two topographical types, namely, plain and river-valley. In total, 41 functional microbes were identified rich (relative abundance >0.1%) in at least one of the regions, such as the fungi of Aspergillus, Candida, Cladosporium, Debaryomyces, Pe