The time course of biomass for strain EC1118, QA23 and VL3 was peaking at about 2.5 × 108 CFU/ml, and it showed a long stationary phase during the fermentation, whereas the growth of strain VIN7 showed a delay of the exponential phase and the microbial population reached its maximal value at ca. 2.0 × 108 CFU/ml (Fig. 1).