We used a cultivation-independent, clone library-based 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis to identify bacterial communities present during traditional fermentation in sour cassava starch, cachaça and cheese production in Brazil. Partial 16S rRNA gene clone sequences from sour cassava starch samples collected on day five of the fermentation process indicated that Leuconostoc citreum was the most prevalent species, representing 47.6% of the clones. After 27 days of fermentation, clones (GenBank accession numbers GQ999786 and GQ999788) related to unculturable bacteria were the most prevalent, representing 43.8% of the clones from the bacterial community analyzed. The clone represented by the sequence GQ999786 was the most prevalent at the end of the fermentation period. The majority of clones obtained from cachaça samples during the fermentation of sugar cane juice were from the genus Lactobacillus. Lactobacillus nagelli was the most prevalent at the beginning of the fermentation process, representing 76.9% of the clones analyzed. After 21 days, Lactobacillus harbinensis was the most prevalent species, representing 75% of the total clones. At the end of the fermentation period, Lactobacillus buchneri was the most prevalent species, representing 57.9% of the total clones. In the Minas cheese samples, Lactococcus lactis was the most prevalent species after seven days of ripening. After 60 days of ripening, Streptococcus salivarius was the most prevalent species. Our data show that these three fermentation processes are conducted by a succession of bacterial species, of which lactic acid bacteria are the most prevalent.

During the production of traditional cachaça (alembic´s cachaça), contamination of the fermented must is one of the factors leading to economic losses in the beverage manufacturing industry. The diversity of bacterial populations and the role of these microorganisms during the cachaça production process are still poorly understood in Brazil. In our work, the fermentation process was followed in two distilleries located in the state of Minas Gerais. The objective of this work was to identify the populations of lactic acid bacteria present during cachaça fermentation using physiological and molecular methods. Lactic acid bacteria were isolated in high frequencies during all of the fermentative processes, and Lactobacillus plantarum and L. casei were the most prevalent species. Other lactic acid bacteria were found in minor frequencies, such as L. ferintoshensis, L. fermentum, L. jensenii, L. murinus, Lactococcus lactis, Enterococcus sp. and Weissella confusa. These bacteria could contribute to the increase of volatile acidity levels or to the production of compounds that could influence the taste and aroma of the beverage.