## 3 Results  
### Effect of pH and NaCl on Growth and Antimold Activity of W. anomalous Strains  
Antimold activity in the three _W. anomalous_ strains, namely LQC 10346, 10353 and 10360, after incubation in BHI broth, adjusted to six initial pH values (3.5, 4.0, 4.5, 5.0, 5.5 and 6.0) and six NaCl concentrations (0.0%, 0.5%, 1.0%, 1.5%, 2.0% and 2.5%), is presented in Figure 1. After 24 h incubation at 30 \({}^{\circ}\)C, the population of yeast strains LQC 10346, 10353 and 10360 ranged between 7.11-7.45, 7.03-7.39 and 7.03-7.46 log CFU/mL, respectively. The maximum antimold activity, by all three yeast strains, was quantified at 5120 AU/mL. However, the aforementioned activity was achieved at different combinations of initial pH value and NaCl concentrations. More specifically, strain LQC 10346 reached maximum antimold activity in BHI broth adjusted to initial pH 6.0, supplemented with 0.0 and 1.0% NaCl. Regarding strain LQC 10353, maximum antimold activity was achieved in BHI broth adjusted to initial pH 4 supplemented with 1.5% NaCl and in BHI broth adjusted to initial pH 4.5 and supplemented with 0.5 and 1.5% NaCl. Finally, the maximum antimold activity of strain LQC 10360 was obtained in BHI broth adjusted to initial pH 5, without NaCl addition, and in BHI broth adjusted to initial pH 4.5, supplemented with 2.5% NaCl. Multifactor Analysis of Variance was applied to assess the effect of initial pH value and NaCl on the antimold activity of each yeast strain. Initial pH value, NaCl concentration and their in-pair interactions were found to significantly affect the antimold activity exhibited by all three strains (_p_ < 0.05). The method of 95% LSD was applied as a post-hoc comparison test, so as to elucidate how the antimold activity of the three yeast strains was differentiated among the six levels of both pH values and NaCl concentrations (Table S1). In the case of strain LQC 10346, the mean antimold activities obtained after growth in BHI broth at pH 3.5, 4.0 and 4.5 were similar in most treatments and that was the case for the activities recorded at pH 5.0 and 5.5. Their differentiation from the mean activity, corresponding to initial pH 6.0, was evident only in a few cases, namely at 0.0 and 1.0% NaCl. Regarding the contribution of the different NaCl concentrations to the mean antimold activity, supplementation of BHI broth adjusted to pH 3.5, 5.0 and 6.0 with 0.0 and 1.0% NaCl revealed overlapping activities, which were differentiated from those at 1.5% NaCl. In the case of strain LQC 10353, the effect of pH values on the antimold activityrevealed no statistically significant differences in the majority of cases, with some minor exceptions. More accurately, in BHI broth at 1.5% NaCl, the mean activities corresponding to pH 3.5, 5.0 and 6.0 were similar and were further differentiated from those at pH 4.0 and 4.5. In addition, overlapping mean activities were recorded in the same medium at pH 3.5, 4.5, 5.0 and 5.5, at 2.0% NaCl, which were significantly different from those at pH 4.0 and 6.0, with the latter two being differentiated in a pH-dependent manner, as well. In terms of the contribution of the different NaCl levels, the mean activities recorded upon growth at pH 5.5 were similar among the different NaCl concentrations. On the other hand, the adjustment of BHI broth to pH 4.0 resulted in a NaCl-dependent antimold capacity. In brief, similar activities were recorded at 0.0, 0.5 and 2.5% NaCl, which were differentiated from those at 1.5% and 2.0%, between which significant differences were displayed as well. Regarding strain LQC 10360, overlapping mean antimold activities were recorded upon growth in BHI broth at pH 3.5 and 4.0, corresponding to 0.0, 0.5, 1.0 and 2.0% NaCl, respectively. Similar was the case for the mean activities at pH 5.0 and 5.5, at 0.5, 1.5, 2.0 and 2.5% NaCl, respectively.