Abstract: In this study, high throughput sequencing technology was used to analyze the bacterial diversity of Lufeng vinegar stored for different periods (produced in 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020). The results showed that the composition of bacterial flora in samples with different storage years was significantly different. In Lufeng vinegar produced in 2017, 2018 and 2019, the diversity of bacterial flora was higher, and the dominant phyla were Firmicutes, Proteobacteria and Actinobacteriota. The dominant genera were Herbaspirillum, Acinetobacter, Hafnia-Obesumbacterium, Enterobacter and Bosea. The dominant bacterial phyla in Lufeng vinegar produced in 2020 were Firmicutes and Proteobacteria, and the dominant bacterial genera were Lactobacillus, Ralstonia and Lactobacillus_homohiochii. Linear discriminant analysis effect size (LEfse) analysis and correlation analysis consistently showed that the diversity of bacterial flora was related to storage time. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) metabolic pathway analysis showed that the beneficial flora in Lufeng vinegar could play an important role in the relationship between primary and secondary metabolism, which needs further study. Our findings in this study may lay the foundation for the analysis of bacterial diversity in Lufeng aromatic vinegar, the breeding of high-quality strain resources and the industrial production of vinegar.

Key words: Lufeng aromatic vinegar; high-throughput sequencing technology; bacterial diversity; community structure