{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,9]],"date-time":"2026-07-09T04:44:54Z","timestamp":1783572294244,"version":"3.55.0"},"reference-count":40,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"10","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,16]],"date-time":"2025-10-16T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1760572800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"\u00e2\u20ac\u0152Nanning Science and Technology Major Program","award":["NO. 20241031"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["NO. 20241031"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosone.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS One"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The seasonal temperature dependency of soy sauce fermentation poses significant challenges to flavor consistency, particularly under low-temperature conditions (e.g., 15\u00b0C in winter), where diminished aroma arises from microbial metabolic constraints. Traditional multi-year field studies to decipher these mechanisms are impractical for rapid industrial optimization. In this study, we present an innovative laboratory-based seasonal temperature simulation fermentation system that precisely replicates climatic conditions (15\u201337\u00b0C) of the Lingnan region, enabling accelerated investigation of microbial dynamics and targeted strain interventions. Our findings revealed that, compared to the 30\u00b0C (simulating the autumn season) fermented soy sauce, which exhibits optimal flavor, 15\u00b0C (simulating the winter season) had a weaker flavor of soy sauce due to the low relative abundance of specific strains, especially <jats:italic><jats:italic>Staphylococcus lloydii<\/jats:italic><\/jats:italic>, <jats:italic><jats:italic>Leuconostoc lactis<\/jats:italic><\/jats:italic>, and <jats:italic><jats:italic>Kodamaea ohmeri<\/jats:italic><\/jats:italic>. Those three strains were added into the low-temperature fermentation process, <jats:italic><jats:italic>Staphylococcus lloydii<\/jats:italic><\/jats:italic> and <jats:italic><jats:italic>Kodamaea ohmeri<\/jats:italic><\/jats:italic> promoted the formation of soy sauce key aroma compounds, such as benzene acetaldehyde, 1-octen-3-ol, and ethyl acetate. Our research offers the soy sauce industry a feasible tool to efficiently and cost-effectively test the reinoculation of functional microbial strains, thereby ensuring consistent flavor profiles throughout the year.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0334707","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,16]],"date-time":"2025-10-16T17:37:16Z","timestamp":1760636236000},"page":"e0334707","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Simulate the natural four-season fermentation system for high-salt diluted-state soy sauce brewing: Application in flavor promotion regulation"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"20","author":[{"given":"Changzheng","family":"Wu","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Hui","family":"Wu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Xiya","family":"Yu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Tianchang","family":"Jia","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Tao","family":"He","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Qinhui","family":"Hong","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0905-5396","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Xing","family":"Tong","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"340","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,16]]},"reference":[{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0334707.ref001","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"640","DOI":"10.1039\/C9FO02314C","article-title":"Exploring the flavor formation mechanism under osmotic conditions during soy sauce fermentation in Aspergillus oryzae by proteomic analysis","volume":"11","author":"G Zhao","year":"2020","journal-title":"Food Funct"},{"issue":"6","key":"pone.0334707.ref002","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"714","DOI":"10.1111\/jfq.12240","article-title":"Chemical Profiling of Different Types of Soy Sauce and the Relationship with its Sensory Attributes","volume":"39","author":"AS Syifaa","year":"2016","journal-title":"J Food Qual"},{"key":"pone.0334707.ref003","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"100872","DOI":"10.1016\/j.fbio.2020.100872","article-title":"Characterizing microbial community and metabolites of Cantonese soy sauce","volume":"40","author":"Q Qi","year":"2021","journal-title":"Food Biosci"},{"issue":"8","key":"pone.0334707.ref004","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1474","DOI":"10.3390\/molecules24081474","article-title":"Formation of Ethyl Carbamate during the Production Process of Cantonese Soy Sauce","volume":"24","author":"K Zhou","year":"2019","journal-title":"Molecules"},{"key":"pone.0334707.ref005","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"114116","DOI":"10.1016\/j.foodres.2024.114116","article-title":"Metagenomics and untargeted metabolomics analyses to unravel the formation mechanism of characteristic metabolites in Cantonese soy sauce during different fermentation stages","volume":"181","author":"L Wen","year":"2024","journal-title":"Food Res Int"},{"key":"pone.0334707.ref006","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"109374","DOI":"10.1016\/j.foodcont.2022.109374","article-title":"A novel milk-derived peptide effectively inhibits Staphylococcus aureus: Interferes with cell wall synthesis, peptidoglycan biosynthesis disruption reaction mechanism, and its application in real milk system","volume":"144","author":"Y Shi","year":"2023","journal-title":"Food Control"},{"key":"pone.0334707.ref007","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"174","DOI":"10.1016\/j.foodchem.2016.03.058","article-title":"Sequence, taste and umami-enhancing effect of the peptides separated from soy sauce","volume":"206","author":"M Zhuang","year":"2016","journal-title":"Food Chem"},{"key":"pone.0334707.ref008","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"364","DOI":"10.1016\/j.foodres.2019.03.010","article-title":"Soy sauce fermentation: Microorganisms, aroma formation, and process modification","volume":"120","author":"PVP Devanthi","year":"2019","journal-title":"Food Res Int"},{"key":"pone.0334707.ref009","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"102883","DOI":"10.1016\/j.fbio.2023.102883","article-title":"Effect of microbiota succession on the dynamics of characteristic flavors and physicochemical properties during the soy sauce fermentation","volume":"54","author":"L Zhang","year":"2023","journal-title":"Food Biosci"},{"key":"pone.0334707.ref010","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Kilau FM, Mohamad NI, Saari N, Sani NA. 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