Exploring the synergistic effect of Lactiplantibacillus plantarum 1–24-LJ and lipase on improving Quality, Flavor, and safety of Suanzharou

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of the addition of Lactiplantibacillus plantarum 1–24-LJ and lipase on physicochemical indexes, nutrition, and flavour substances during Suanzharou's fermentation. Individually, the lipase supplementation expedited the synthesis of organic acids and free fatty acids, thus rapidly acidifying the fermentation environment. Compared to C (8.03 ± 0.38 mg KOH/g of meat) and S (11.20 ± 0.85 mg KOH/g of meat), the addition of lipase caused a increase of acid value to 14.34 ± 0.12 mg KOH/g. Individually, Lpb. plantarum 1–24-LJ changed the bacterial community structure, hastening the formation of dominated flora, and accumulated more volatile flavor compounds. Artificial inoculation brought the abundance of Lpb. plantarum 1–24-LJ in S and LS to 87.35 % ∼ 89.47 % on the 7th day compared to C (45.97 %) and L (49.30 %). Lpb. plantarum 1–24-LJ was highly correlated with crucial flavor substances, especially for aldehydes and esters. Interestingly, lipase and Lpb. plantarum 1–24-LJ can not only serve their respective strengths, but also have a synergistic effect during fermentation. Lipase and Lpb. plantarum 1–24-LJ can cooperate to promote the accumulation of free amino acids content (4470.05 ± 0.43 mg/100 g), higher than those of other groups. Lpb. plantarum 1–24-LJ may accumulated more pleasant flavor compounds (such as aldehydes and esters) to neutralize negative flavor caused by lipase. In all, addition of Lpb. plantarum 1–24-LJ and addition of Lpb. plantarum 1–24-LJ with lipase are recommended to improve the quality of Suanzharou.