Screening and identifying microorganisms with feruloyl esterase activity in Chinese sesame-flavour baijiu fermentation materials (Jiupei)

Abstract Baijiu is a national beverage in China. Some functional compounds have been identified in baijiu, one of which is ferulic acid. One route for in situ ferulic acid synthesis is catalysed by feruloyl esterase from microorganisms using baijiu raw materials as substrates. However, few studies have focused on microorganisms obtained from baijiu that have feruloyl esterase activity. In this work, microorganisms with feruloyl esterase activity were screened in the fermented raw materials of baijiu. Four different microorganisms with feruloyl esterase activity were identified, and one strain, designated J1, showed high feruloyl esterase activity. The strain J1 belonged to the genus Acetobacter and showed the closest relationship with Acetobacter fabarum and Acetobacter lovaniensis. The feruloyl esterase production capacity of J1 was confirmed, and the fermentation conditions were optimised. The optimal enzyme production conditions for the highest feruloyl esterase activity required an initial fermentation pH of 7.0 at 30 °C, an inoculation volume of 10 %, and culturing for 24 h.