Abstract: In this paper, high-throughput sequencing technology combined with mathematical statistics software was used to analyze the bacterial community structure during the fermentation of Chinese Fen-Maotai-flavored liquor in pottery jars. The results showed that Firmicutes and Proteobacteria were the dominant bacterial phyla; Weissella, Gluconobacter, Lactobacillus, Staphylococcus, Pseudomonas, Acetobacter, Bacillus, Kroppenstedtia, Oceanobacillus, Lentibacillus, Pediococcus, Enterobacter, Komagataeibacter, Acinetobacter, Leuconostoc, Kozakia and Pantoea were the main bacterial genera, among which, Weissella, Staphylococcus, Lactobacillus and Gluconobacter were dominant. The main bacterial community structure had the characteristics of the main bacterial community structures of both Fen-flavored liquor and Maotai-flavored liquor. On average 73.53% of the main bacterial genera increased significantly while the remaining 20.59% decreased substantially during the fermentation process. During the late stage of fermentation, the composition of the main bacterial genera was relatively stable, and the relative abundance of each genus was less than 25.97%. On average, 81.12% of the major bacterial genera showed a significantly positive correlation whereas the remaining 18.88% showed an antagonistic correlation.

Key words: Chinese Fen-Maotai-flavored liquors, high-throughput sequencing, bacterial community, fermentation in pottery jars