Abstract: In order to study the correlation between characteristic flavor compounds and microbial community composition during the fermentation of sour beef, an electronic nose, an electronic tongue, gas chromatography-ion mobility spectrometry (GC-IMS) and high-throughput sequencing technology were used to determine flavor compounds and microbial community composition. Principal component analysis (PCA) was used to identify characteristic flavor compounds, and the correlation between microbial communities and characteristic flavor substances was explored by Spearmen correlation analysis. The results showed that a total of 40 volatile compounds were detected. Among them, 17 compounds including n-hexanol were considered as key flavor compounds. The relative abundance of Lactobacillus and Weissellla increased during the fermentation process, while the relative abundance of Staphylococcus, Alcaligenes, Pseudomonas and Macrococcus decreased. The results of Spearman correlation analysis indicated that Lactobacillus, Staphylococcus and Leuconostoc were significantly positively correlated with the production of various flavor compounds such as n-hexanol M and isoamyl alcohol M. In summary, Lactobacillus is the dominant genus in the fermentation process of sour meat, which plays an important role in promoting the formation of esters and alcohols. In addition, Staphylococcus and Leuconostoc also promote the formation of esters and alcohols in sour beef.

Key words: sour beef; fermentation; microbial community composition; volatile flavor compounds; correlation analysis