Niacin inhibits post-acidification of yogurt based on the mining of LDB_RS00370 biomarker gene.

The post-acidification of yogurt results in short shelf life, undesirable flavor, and sour taste, making it unacceptable to consumers. Many scholars have proposed several solutions to this problem. However, the existing methods of inhibiting post-acidification cannot fundamentally solve this problem. So exploring the molecular mechanism behind post-acidification can be a better approach to finding the solution. Therefore, we first evaluated the correlation between 69 candidate genes for post-acidification and changes in the acidity of yogurt fermented with different Lactobacillus bulgaricus, and mined a biomarker LDB_RS00370 for post-acidification. Subsequently, this biomarker was used for large-scale screening of food additives that could inhibit post-acidification, and niacin was found to be the most representative one. Finally, the mechanism of niacin inhibiting post-acidification of yogurt was analyzed by RNA-seq, which revealed that post-acidification might be inhibited by affecting protein synthesis and glycolysis. This study opens up a novel perspective on molecular prediction of the post-acidification process, which could provide guidance for precautions to be taken in yogurt production.