Hence, it is possible that the cells used
in the experiment were adapted to high-moisture conditions, and
were therefore more susceptible to desiccation during the first
hours or days of the trial, compared to cells that had already been
exposed to low water activity conditions. There is evidence that
population decline is more pronounced in the first few days after
inoculation during the drying period, if cells are inoculated in a
liquid medium instead of a dry medium (Blessington et al., 2012;
Kimber et al., 2012). However, the decline rate has been observed
to be similar in wet- and dry-inoculated nut kernels, after the wet-
inoculated matrix was air-dried and acclimated for 7 days
(Blessington et al., 2013).