Analysis of the mould microbiome and exogenous enzyme production in Moutai-flavor Daqu

The objective of this study was to isolate and screen the mould microbiome of five Moutai-flavor Daqu samples and to characterize and quantify the associated exogenous enzymes. In all, 11 and 18 mould genera were identified in the samples by, respectively, a culture-dependent method and a culture-independent high throughput sequencing method. Species of Aspergillus and Rhizopus were the dominant mould genera in the Moutai-flavor Daqu samples. Analysis of enzyme production showed that Aspergillus versicolor in Daqu ZX01 exhibited the highest neutral proteinase activity (2671.0 ± 73.9 U/g) and Rhizomucor pusillus in Daqu DYT01 exhibited the highest saccharifying amylase production ability (1724.6 ± 11.0 U/g).