Developing an innovative raw wheat Qu inoculated with Saccharopolyspora and its application in Huangjiu.

BACKGROUND: Mechanized Huangjiu is a stable product, is not subject to seasonal production restrictions, and markedly reduces labor intensity compared to traditional manual Huangjiu. However, the bitterness of mechanized Huangjiu impedes its further development. RESULTS: Based on process optimization, when the fermentation temperature was 45 °C and the fermentation time was 122 h, the inoculation amount of Saccharopolyspora was 5%, the amount of added water was 26%, and the glucoamylase and amylase activities of wheat Qu increased by 27% and 40% respectively, compared with those before optimization. Huangjiu fermented by raw wheat Qu inoculated with Saccharopolyspora rosea F2014 showed a significant (P < 0.05) decrease in bitter amino acid content (1.24 vs. 2.86 g L−1, a decrease of 56%), which attenuated its bitterness. CONCLUSION: An innovative fermentation process of inoculating Saccharopolyspora into raw wheat Qu was developed for the first time. Such a process could be used to control bitterness based on raw wheat Qu inoculated with Saccharopolyspora rosea F2014, instead of traditional wheat Qu in Huangjiu fermentation. © 2022 Society of Chemical Industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]