Abstract:The metabolic patterns of microorganisms and flavor components of glutinous rice during the fermentation process were explored. Raw glutinous rice was naturally fermented for 14 days. The microbial counts，physicochemical properties and flavor components in the supernatants after fermentation for different time periods were analyzed by 3M Petrifilm plates， colorimetric method， high performance liquid chromatography （HPLC）， headspace-solid phase microextraction-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry （HS-SPME-GC-MS）， and ion chromatography （IC）. The results showed that the counts of total colonies， molds， yeast， and lactic acid bacteria first increased and then decrease over fermentation time. In the early stage of fermentation，the supernatant showed that total acid content increased and pH decreased. In the later stage of fermentation，the supernatant exhibited total acid content decreasedand pH slowly increased .The content of reducing sugars and proteins first increased and then decreased with changes in amylase and protease activities. The content of oxalic acid， malic acid， tartaric acid， citric acid， and lactic acid significantly increased in a wave-like pattern， with a slight increase later， while other amino acids showed small increases. The number of alcohols， ketones， hydrocarbons， acids， esters， and aromatic compounds varied greatly， and the relative content of alcohols， aldehydes， and acids showed significant changes. Principal component analysis （PCA） and partial least squares-discriminant analysis （PLS-DA） demonstrated good discrimination of flavor compounds at different fermentation stages， with 8 flavor compounds being the main differential components.