Recently, the Food nutrition and Functional Foods Innovation Team, Institute of Food Science and Technology (IFST), Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS), reviewed the types of microorganisms and the composition of flavor compounds in pickled bamboo shoots, sorted out the relationships between them, and explored the problems and challenges in large-scale industrial fermentation of pickled bamboo shoots. The research findings were published in the food field journal 'LWT-Food Science and Technology' (JCR 1, IF: 6.0).

Many delicious foods sniff smelly but taste palatable around the world. Canned herring is the most renowned representative of the world, while China boasts numerous frowzy but delectable fermented foods, including stinky tofu, river snails rice noodles, and stinky mandarin fish. River snails rice noodles, also named Luosifen, are a local specialty food in Liuzhou (Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China). This specialty snack has been sold to 28 countries and regions with the rapid development of pre-packaged river snails rice noodles, and it became the first "Internet celebrity" product in the field of convenience food in China. Pickled bamboo shoots, as the "soul" of Luosifen, present a unique fermented vinegary malodor with a crisp and refreshing taste. Consumers deeply love the distinctive flavor. Therefore, the variety of microorganisms and the composition of flavor compounds in pickled bamboo shoots are reviewed, and their relationships are summarized. The problems and challenges in large-scale industrial production of pickled bamboo shoots are discussed. The composition of microorganisms in pickled bamboo shoots is diverse, the dominant phyla are Firmicutes and Proteobacteria, the superior genera are Lactobacillus, Serratia, and so on, and the prominent species are Lactobacillus fermentum, Lactiplantibacillus plantarum, and others. The main flavor compounds are aromatics, organic acids, alcohols, aldehydes, and esters. Among them, p-cresol is the primary substance responsible for the distinctive taste of pickled bamboo shoots. A notable positive association was noted between p-cresol and Clostridium_sensu_stricto_1. This information has a certain degree of impact on microbial control, flavor enhancement, and quality improvement in industrial production of pickled bamboo shoots, but further research is still needed.

Professor Fengzhong Wang and Professor Li-tao Tong are the co-corresponding authors. The first author is Xiya Zhang, a postgraduate student of IFST. This study was supported financially by Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region "Tianshan Talent" Training Plan Project (2022TSYCCX0063).

Fig. A The main flavor compounds and the corresponding flavor compounds in pickled bamboo shoots

Fig. B The positive correlation and negative correlation between the main flavor compounds and microorganisms in pickled bamboo shoots (the number above the flavor compounds corresponds to the number of microorganisms)

Fig. C The pathway of flavor compound formation from carbohydrates and proteins induced by lactic acid bacteria in pickled bamboo shoots