Abstract: To understand the bacterial diversity in different types of traditional Chinese bacon, we evaluated the microbial community structures of traditional Chinese bacons produced using different processes in different regions by high-throughput sequencing of the V3-V4 region of the 16S rDNA sequence as well as using traditional isolation and culture methods. A total of 99 bacterial isolates cultured were identified by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS). The dominant bacterial genera were Staphylococcus saprophyticus (27.3%), Escherichia coli (24.2%) and S. equorum (14.1%), while the rest included Lactobacillus paracasei, L. sake, Enterococcus faecium. High-throughput sequencing revealed that a total of 751 737 effective sequences and 12 122 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) were obtained from 13 samples. The analysis of bacterial community composition showed that the bacterial diversity and abundance of smoked bacon from Sichuan and Chongqing were significantly lower than those of the other samples (P < 0.05). At the level of phylum, Firmicutes, Actinomycetes and Proteobacteria were dominant in all samples. At the genus level, the abundance of Staphylococcus was high in smoked bacon from Sichuan and Chongqing, accounting for 87.33%–97.35% of the total bacterial community, while in smoked bacon from Hunan, the relative abundance of Staphylococcus was 7.76%–37.37%. The predominant genera of non-smoked bacon from Longxi, Gansu were Psychrophilus, Staphylococcus, and Acinetobacter. The bacterial community of Zhejiang style-bacon contained mainly Acinetobacter (13.48%–32.51%). This study provides insights into the microbial diversity of different types of traditional Chinese bacon products.

Key words: traditional Chinese bacon; high-throughput sequencing; classical isolation method; microbial diversity