Objective The study was conducted to analyze the effects of single and mixed fermentation of Dendrocalamus latiflorus with Lactiplantibacillus plantarum and Limosilactobacillus fermentum on their quality, to explore suitable fermentation agents for D. latiflorus.

Method L. plantarum S1 and L. fermentum G9 were used as fermentation strains to study the effects of single and mixed fermentation of the two Lactobacillus strains on the lactic acid bacteria count, reducing sugars, pH values, total acids, nitrites, antioxidants, organic acids, biogenic amines and volatile compounds of fermented D. latiflorus.

Result Compared with the natural fermentation group, fermentation with L. plantarum S1 and L. fermentum G9 significantly increased the lactic acid bacteria count, total acids, organic acids and antioxidant activity (P < 0.05) of fermented D. latiflorus, while its pH value and reducing sugar content were reduced. At the 4th day of fermentation, the lactobacillus count in G9 fermentation group was the highest, 8.70 lg (CFU/mL), and at the end of fermentation, the lactobacillus count in inoculated fermentation group was higher than 6.31 lg (CFU/mL), which was significantly higher than that in natural fermentation group. Moreover, the inoculated fermentation groups showed higher total acids and lactic acid contents in comparison with the naturally fermented D. latiflorus. The highest total acid (5.86 g/kg) and lactic acid content (3.66 g/kg) were both found in S1 fermentation group. In addition, inoculated fermentation with lactic acid bacteria could effectively reduce the nitrite and biogenic amine contents of fermented D. latiflorus, and the nitrite and biogenic amine contents of inoculated fermentation groups were significantly lower than those of natural fermentation group during the fermentation. The results of volatile flavor substances analysis showed that 26, 33, 29 and 31 compounds were detected in the natural, S1, G9 and mixed fermentation groups with the relative contents of 12.75, 22.58, 15.15 and 20.81 mg/kg, respectively. Compared with the inoculated fermentation group, the natural fermentation group had relatively fewer types of volatile substances, and the relative content of volatile substances (12.75 mg/kg) was lower than that of other fermentation groups.It was shown that inoculated fermentation could effectively enhance the types and relative contents of volatile flavor substances in fermented D. latiflorus.

Conclusion The above findings indicated that both L. plantarum S1 and L. fermentum G9 could better enhance the quality and flavor of fermented D. latiflorus, which could be used as potential fermentation agents for D. latiflorus.