Comparative evaluation of the quality of red globe grape juice fermented by Lactobacillus acidophilus and Lactobacillus plantarum

Summary Basic analysis, electronic senses and HS‐SPME/GC‐MS were used to evaluate the effects of single and mixed cultures of Lactobacillus acidophilus ‐26 and Lactobacillus plantarum ‐56 on the quality of fermented red globe grape (RGG) juice. The results showed that mixed culture fermentation was superior to single strain fermentation in terms of viable bacteria counts, consumption of total sugar (TS), total soluble solids, pH, functionality, and antioxidant properties of RGG juice (RGGJ). Whereas the aroma profiles of developing juices were dominated by abundant esters, acids, alcohols, aldehydes, and ketones. Compared with the single inoculation, co‐inoculation of the two species induced lactic acid fermentations, leading to accumulation of acetic acid, ethyl acetate, and 2‐hexenol significantly. Moreover, higher concentrations of ethyl acetate, benzoic acid ethyl ester, octanoic acid, sorbic acid, 2‐phenylethanol, and 2‐hexenol represented the characteristic flavours of juices. To sum up, these findings suggested that L . acidophilus ‐26 and L . plantarum ‐56 could be used as fermented strains to ferment and improve the quality of RGGJ.