| Summary: | The study examined the effect of <i>Lactobacillus plantarum</i> together with <i>Saccharomyces cerevisiae</i> on cider quality through simultaneous and sequential inoculation strategies to evoke malolactic fermentation. The antioxidant activities and flavor compound profiles of apple ciders fermented with mixed cultures of commercial wine yeast (<i>S. cerevisia</i> SY) and autochthonous bacteria (<i>L. plantarum</i> SCFF107 and <i>L. plantarum</i> SCFF200) were assessed. The antioxidant ability results indicated that apple ciders fermented with the simultaneous inoculation method had a higher DPPH radical scavenging rate and total antioxidant capacity, especially for SIL107 cider (simultaneous inoculation with <i>S. cerevisiae</i> SY and <i>L. plantarum</i> SCFF107), which exhibited the highest DPPH free radical scavenging activity (78.14% ± 0.78%) and the highest total antioxidant ability (255.92 ± 7.68 mmol/L). The results showed that ciders produced by mixed inoculation with <i>L. plantarum</i> improved flavor because of their higher contents of volatiles such as esters and higher alcohols and higher contents of non-volatile compounds like organic acids and polyphenols in comparison with the single culture of <i>S. cerevisiae</i>, especially for the simultaneous inoculation method. In addition, irrespective of the inoculation mode, compared to the single culture of cider, L-malic acid degraded dramatically in the presence of <i>L. plantarum</i> during alcoholic fermentation, accompanied by increases in lactic acid. What is more, sensory evaluation results demonstrated that ciders produced by mixed cultures gained higher scores than ciders fermented by the single culture of <i>S. cerevisiae</i>, especially in the simultaneous inoculation mode, in terms of the floral, fruity, and overall acceptability of the cider. Therefore, our results indicated that simultaneous inoculation with <i>L. plantarum</i> was found to compensate for some enological shortages of single <i>S. cerevisiae</i> fermented ciders, which could be a potential strategy to enhance the quality of cider products.
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