Effects of high hydrostatic pressure treatment on bacterial composition in donkey milk studied by high throughput sequencing

Abstract

High hydrostatic pressure has become a non-thermal alternative to thermal pasteurization in dairy product processing. In this study, we investigated the effects of the treatment of high hydrostatic pressure on the bacterial composition in donkey milk using high-throughput sequencing technology and culture-dependent methods. Compared with the microbial composition in the untreated donkey milk, the relative percentage of <italic>Pseudomonas</italic> and <italic>Acinetobacter</italic> in donkey milk after high hydrostatic pressure was significantly decreased by 4.92% and 4.82%, respectively. Beta diversity analysis demonstrated that the treatment of high hydrostatic pressure affected the microbial composition in donkey milk significantly. The potential probiotic <italic>Enterococcus casseliflavus</italic> isolated from the untreated donkey milk has a good acidifying ability. This study revealed the effects of high hydrostatic pressure treatment on the microbial composition in donkey milk, exhibiting its practical industrial application and the potential use of biological resources in the future.