{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,2]],"date-time":"2026-04-02T16:57:27Z","timestamp":1775149047526,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":51,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"6","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,6,4]],"date-time":"2025-06-04T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1748995200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Research Program for Agricultural Science and Technology development","award":["RS-2022-RD010391"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["RS-2022-RD010391"]}]},{"name":"National Institute of Crop Science, Rural Development Administration, Republic of Korea","award":["RS-2022-RD010391"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["RS-2022-RD010391"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Microorganisms"],"abstract":"<jats:p>This study investigated changes in microbial communities and functional components during the fermentation of traditional Korean grain vinegars collected from various regions as well as the correlations among these components. Microbial community analysis revealed that Lactobacillus acetotolerans was the dominant microorganism, while Acetobacter pasteurianus numbers gradually increased during fermentation, playing a key role in acetic acid production. L. acetotolerans, known to thrive in acidic environments, contributed to increasing the acidity of the vinegar and enhanced its preservative properties. The rise in the levels of organic acids, particularly acetic acid, was influenced by the activity of these microorganisms. Additionally, the production of free amino acids, such as alanine, was influenced by interactions between the fermentation medium and microbial communities, significantly contributing to the vinegar\u2019s sweetness. Volatile flavor compounds exhibited considerable diversity due to changes in microbial communities driven by raw-material differences. In particular, five-grain vinegar (YO) tended to generate more complex and intense flavor compounds, with uniformly elevated levels of aldehydes, acids, and ketones. These findings suggest that raw-material selection and fermentation conditions significantly influence the flavor and functional properties of grain vinegars, providing valuable foundational data for improving vinegar production processes to enhance flavor and functionality.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/microorganisms13061308","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,6,4]],"date-time":"2025-06-04T08:51:04Z","timestamp":1749027064000},"page":"1308","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Microbial Community and Functional Analysis of Regionally Produced Traditional Korean Grain Vinegar"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"13","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7519-4685","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Su Jeong","family":"Lee","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Fermented and Processed Food Research Division, Department of Food Sciences, NICS, RDA, Wanju 55365, Republic of Korea"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0939-4096","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Sun Hee","family":"Kim","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Fermented and Processed Food Research Division, Department of Food Sciences, NICS, RDA, Wanju 55365, Republic of Korea"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Hee-Min","family":"Gwon","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Fermented and Processed Food Research Division, Department of Food Sciences, NICS, RDA, Wanju 55365, Republic of Korea"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Jinju","family":"Park","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Fermented and Processed Food Research Division, Department of Food Sciences, NICS, RDA, Wanju 55365, Republic of Korea"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,6,4]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"259","DOI":"10.1016\/j.foodres.2010.10.025","article-title":"Determination of major volatile compounds during the production of fruit vinegars by static headspace gas chromatography-mass spectrometry method","volume":"44","author":"Ubeda","year":"2011","journal-title":"Food Res. 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