The microbiome and typical pathogen multiplication, qualities changes of baoxing yam at different storage temperatures

Abstract

The microbial community structure, pathogenic and spoilage microorganism of yam during storage processing were very important to the quality of yam. In this study, the yams after harvesting were treated by lime-mud coating, and stored at different temperatures (1 °C, 4 °C, 8 °C, and 15 °C). Microbial structures and pathogenic species in yam were explored by high-throughput sequencing, and key microbial communities were identified based on significant correlations with quality-related physiochemical attributes. Results suggested that yam had better quality characteristics under 8 °C storage condition. Firmicutes, Proteobacteria were the dominant bacterial community in yam. Ascomycota and Basidiomycota were the predominate fungal in yam. Penicillium and Bacillus were the main cause of corruption at the incision site of yam. Most of the endophytic bacteria were negatively correlated with the quality of yam, while most of the bacteria at the incision site were positively correlated with the quality of yam. The main negative effects of fungi on the quality of yam were Penicillium, Chordomyces and others dominant fungal genus. Hence, the growth control of such flora during yam storage helped to prolong the storage time of yam.