Abstract: The Suantangzi is a traditional ethnic food with good nutritional properties and unique flavor, which is popular among Manchu people and northeastern Chinese people. The diverse microbes in corn sourdough for Sutangzi play an extremely important role in the development of its nutritional quality. However, the microbial community diversity is still unclear today. This study aimed to study the diversity of the microflora in nine samples of Suantangzi sourdough collected from different regions by polymerase chain reaction-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (PCR-DGGE). The results showed that a total of 14 species of fungi were identified from these samples, including Saccharomyces castellii, Geotrichun candidum, Simplicillium lanosoniveum, Rhizochaete sulphurosa, Guehomyces pullulans, Debaryomyces hansenii, Fusarium culmorum, Trichoderma brevicompactum, Oryza lonqistaminata, Geotrichun fraqrans, Galactomyces candidum, Galactomyces geotrichum, Geotrichum sp. and Galactomyces sp. S. castellii was detected in most samples. Based on this observation, S. castellii was predicted to be the dominant fungal species in Suantangzi. Moreover, 4 species of bacteria were also identified, including Bacillus pumilu, Lactobacillus tucceti, Lactobacillus plantarum and Weissella paramesenteroides. Weissella paramesenteroides was supposed to be the dominant species for the widest distribution in the samples.

Key words: Suantangzi, natural fermentation, polymerase chain reaction-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis, microbe, diversity