Microbial succession and metabolite changes during traditional serofluid dish fermentation

•Serofluid dish is a traditional Chinese salt-free fermented vegetable.•It was considered safe to eat celery serofluid dish after three days of fermentation.•Microbial succession and metabolites of celery serofluid dish had important links.•Serofluid dish is a dietary source of lactic acid bacteria, yeasts and metabolites.

Serofluid dish is a traditional Chinese salt-free fermented vegetable. In this study, the microbial succession and metabolite changes during celery serofluid dish fermentation were investigated using high-throughput sequencing and GC-TOFMS methods. The results showed that the leading genera of bacteria were Lactobacillus and Pediococcus in eight serofluid samples; Debaryomyces was the dominant fungal genus followed by Saccharomyces. A total of 182 metabolites were identified, mainly organic acids and amino acids. Correlation analysis revealed important links between microbial populations and metabolites. These results lend new insights into the fermentation process and provide a theoretical basis for the economical production of safe, high-quality serofluid dish.