The combination of high‐throughput sequencing and LC–MS/MS reveals the mechanism of Staphylococcus inoculation on bacterial community succession and taste development during the processing of dry‐cured bacon.

BACKGROUND: To understand the mechanism of co‐inoculation of Staphylococcus vitulinus and Staphylococcus xylosus (SX&SV) on taste quality of dry‐cured bacon, physicochemical parameters, microbial community, metabolite compositions and taste attributes were investigated during the processing of dry‐cured bacon with Staphylococcus inoculation. The potential correlation between core bacteria and metabolites was evaluated, and the metabolic pathway of key metabolites was further explored. RESULTS: The values of pH, water activity and adhesiveness were significantly lower in SX&SV, and more than 2.56‐ and 2.15‐fold higher values in richness and overall acceptance were found in SX&SV bacon than in CK bacon. The overwhelming advantage of Staphylococcus was confirmed in SX&SV by high‐throughput sequencing. Sixty‐six metabolites were identified by liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry, and oligopeptides, amino acid derivatives and organic acids were the key components. Pearson correlation demonstrated that the accumulation of oligopeptides, amino acid derivatives and organic acids were positively correlated with high abundance of Staphylococcus. The pathways of purine metabolism, glutathione metabolism and glutamate metabolism were mainly involved in developing the taste quality of SX&SV. CONCLUSION: The co‐inoculation of Staphylococcus vitulinus and Staphylococcus xylosus enhanced the taste attributes of dry‐cured bacon. The present study provides the theoretical reference with respect to regulating the taste quality of fermented meat products by starter cultures of Staphylococcus during manufacture. © 2023 Society of Chemical Industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]