Analysis of fungal dynamic changes in the natural fermentation broth of ‘Hongyang’ kiwifruit

‘Hongyang’ kiwifruit (Actinidia chinensis Planch.) is an ideal kiwifruit wine variety. At present, there is no research on the dynamic changes of yeast during the natural fermentation of kiwifruit wine. In this study, a high-throughput was employed to analyze the fungal population composition and diversity in the samples cultured in yeast extract peptone dextrose (YPD) medium and enriched in the natural fermentation process of ‘Hongyang’ kiwifruit at four time points, day one (D1T), day three (D3T), day five (D5T), and day fifteen (D15T). Five hundred and eighty-two operational taxonomic units (OTUs) were obtained from 131 genera and 178 species samples. The diversity analysis results showed that in the early natural fermentation stage, the dominant species was Aureobasidium pullulans, and as natural fermentation proceeded, the genus Pichia became the dominant species. Pichia kluyveri was an important species at the later stages of natural fermentation. An analysis of the metabolic pathways shows that P. kluyveri plays an aromatic-producing role in the natural fermentation of ‘Hongyang’ kiwifruit. These results could provide a theoretical basis for the studies of kiwifruit fungal diversity and fungal changes during fermentation. The findings could fix a major deficiency in the production of kiwifruit fruit wine, which lacks a specific flavor-producing yeast species or strain.