In this study, Eurotium cristatum was used for the solid-state fermentation of Angelica dahurica, and the dynamic changes in metabolites during fermentation were investigated. The results showed that fermentation markedly altered the volatile metabolite profile, increasing the relative abundance of terpenoids while decreasing that of alcohols and aldehydes. In combination with principal component analysis (PCA), 24 key volatile compounds were screened. Liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (LC–MS)-based untargeted metabolomics identified 892 differential annotated non-volatile metabolites and temporal clustering analysis was further applied to characterize their changes. The results showed metabolic fluctuations occurred during the initiation and early fermentation stages, during which carbohydrates and nucleotides were consumed. Secondary metabolites accumulated in the early and middle fermentation. Lipid compounds overall increased in the early fermentation but declined in the middle and late fermentation. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analysis identified 12 key metabolic pathways. This work systematically reveals the change pattern of the metabolite composition of A. dahurica driven by E. cristatum solid-state fermentation, providing a scientific basis for quality improvement and mechanistic studies of fermented A. dahurica products.
Feng et al. (Sat,) studied this question.