Cereal matrix shapes acidification and volatile compound formation, but not culturable bacterial counts, in boza, a fermented cereal beverageFink, Katja (Avtor) Uršnik, Ines (Avtor) Janeš, Damjan (Avtor) Kreft, Marko (Avtor) bozalactic acid bacteriaacidification kineticsvolatile compoundsBoza is a fermented cereal beverage whose fermentation phenotype depends on cereal composition and starter microbiota. We evaluated a controlled laboratory model comprising three cereal bases and three inoculum sources. Maize flour, millet flour, and purified maize starch were each inoculated with sour cream, a defined mesophilic dairy starter, or a boza-derived inoculum and fermented for 48 h at 22 °C. We measured pH, titratable acidity, culturable aerobic bacterial counts, and 14 targeted volatile compounds. Flour formulations acidified markedly, with pH decreases of up to 3.5 units and final titratable acidity of up to 24.6 mmol NaOH/kg; starch formulations decreased by less than 1 pH unit and remained below 2 mmol NaOH/kg. Maize flour produced the largest pH decrease, whereas millet flour, particularly with sour-cream inoculum, reached the highest titratable acidity and showed the broadest increases in acetoin, two 2,3-butanediol isomers, 1-hexanol, and 1-octen-3-ol. Endpoint aerobic bacterial counts did not differ significantly among formulations despite marked differences in acidification. Thus, flour-based and starch-based formulations exhibited distinct fermentation phenotypes, with matrix-dependent inoculum effects. Across the tested formulations, cereal matrix was strongly associated with the measured phenotype, whereas endpoint culturable aerobic counts alone did not reflect acidification or volatile remodeling.20262026-08-30 22:36:10Članek v reviji186316sl