Introduction
As a traditional alcoholic beverage, Chinese rice wine with a
unique flavor and high nutritional value has been popular in China
for thousands of years (Chen & Xu, 2010). With the development of
economic globalization, Chinese rice wine has been sold to the
international market. Meanwhile, with the improvement of the
living level of Chinese people, higher quality of Chinese rice wine
was requested. Chinese rice wine has complex flavor compounds
including volatile aroma which comes from its raw materials and
the products of microbial metabolism. Consequently, it is necessary
to make a deep study in the taste and flavor of Chinese rice wine to
attract more consumers.
The brewing of traditional Chinese rice wine was carried
out using open fermentation and pottery jars. In that case, the
saccharification of starch and the fermentation of sugars are conducted
at the same time, which is recognized as simultaneous
saccharification and fermentation (Chen & Xu, 2013). During the
process, there are numerous bacteria which accompany the
fermentation of Chinese rice wine. However, the role of bacteria in
the process of fermentation was with little investigation. Although
acetic acid bacteria and lactic acid bacteria could lead to the
rancidity of Chinese rice wine, lactic acid bacteria could also produce
lactic acid to improve acidity and lower pH. And some
autolysate of lactic acid bacteria such as peptides, amino acids and
other ingredients could promote the formation of flavor compounds
of Chinese rice wine and enhance the taste (Xie et al., 2007).
The close relationships between the bacteria and lactic acid as well
as some other organic acids show that bacteria play an important
role in the flavor formation of Chinese rice wine. The analysis of
bacterial distribution and microflora might be an efficient way to
elaborate the mechanism of microorganisms in fermentation, and it
can also contribute to investigate the metabolic pathways of flavor
compounds (Mo, Xu, & Fan, 2010). Thus, it is necessary to investigate
the bacterial diversity in Chinese rice wine..