3.2.3. Ergosterol Production Dynamics

During the colonisation process, ergosterol content of all of the treatment combinations appeared to be mainly driven by the storage aw (Figure 4e,f). By day 6, close to the end of the colonisation of the wheat grain, aw had a significant effect (*p*-value<0.001) on ergosterol content, although was interestingly not influenced by the inoculation position (*p*-value = 0.07). Overall, there was a significantly higher ergosterol content at 0.97 aw (331.56 ± 50.76 g mg<sup>−</sup>1) than at 0.95 aw (100.97 ± 27 <sup>g</sup>·mg<sup>−</sup>1). At the end of the experimental period, ergosterol content was statistically affected by the aw (*p*-value = 0.027), inoculation position (*p*-value = 0.005) and the interaction between these two factors (*p*-value = 0.004). The 0.97 aw bottom-centre produced a higher ergosterol content than the bottom-side inoculation and 0.95 aw bottom-centreinoculation. Top-centre inoculations were very similar statistically to the 0.97 aw bottom-centre treatment and the bottom-side inoculations. Similarly, bottom-side inoculations could not be distinguished from the 0.95 aw bottom-centre treatment.
