Overall, a trial employing liquid inoculum
allows to measure both the initial fast population decline during
the first days post-inoculum, which is in part likely driven by the
fact that cells are not yet adapted to low aw conditions and hence
are more susceptible (situation representative of a contamination event caused by a liquid intrusion), and the subsequent decline
phase involving only cells that were able to survive and acclimate to
desiccation conditions (more akin to a contamination event caused
by a dry medium).