Metagenomic insights into the mechanisms of protein degradation in the natural fermentation of cigar tobacco leaves

Abstract

With the continuous expansion of cigar tobacco consumer groups, the sales of domestic cigar tobacco are rapidly rising, showing good development prospects, but at present, the enhancement of the aroma quality of domestic cigar raw materials is a major difficulty. In this study, macro-genomic technology was used to study the mechanism of protein degradation in cigar tobacco leaves, aiming to provide a reference for the aroma enhancement technology that achieves the fermentation effect through gene introduction into microorganisms. After 80 days of natural fermentation, proteases in cigar tobacco leaves convert proteins into amino acids. Microorganisms of the genera Sphingomonas and Pseudomonas were dominant in the protein degradation of cigar tobacco leaves, of which S14C1332, S19C1332, S25C119, S2C1332, S4C1332, and S7C1332 were functional genes, and the metabolic pathway revealed that there was a biotechnological potential of these genes to enhance the flavor of cigar tobacco leaves.