**5. Conclusions**

In recent years, several studies have aimed to enhance the shelf life and safety of bakery products by analyzing the antifungal potential of protective microbial starter cultures and the corresponding sourdough. However, most of these works have been performed using only one or a few mold strains as fungal indicators. In this study, although with a preliminary experimental plan, we analyzed the in situ bioprotection effectiveness of a *L. plantarum* strain against a representative panel of six different mold species belonging to three different genera generally recognized as being mainly responsible for the natural contamination of bakery foods. Our results indicated in these molds a species- or strain-dependent sensitivity to the same microbial-based control strategy, suggesting that a new generation of mixed starter protective cultures, active against different fungal species, might be better able to globally extend the shelf life of baked goods.

**Acknowledgments:** Vittorio Capozzi was supported by Fondo di Sviluppo e Coesione 2007-2013—APQ Ricerca Regione Puglia "Programma regionale a sostegno della specializzazione intelligente e della sostenibilità sociale ed ambientale—FutureInResearch". Pasquale Russo was supported by a grant of the Apulian Region in the framework of "Perform Tech (Puglia Emerging Food Technology)" project (practice code LPIJ9P2).

**Author Contributions:** P.R., V.C., and G.S. conceived and designed the experiments; A.L. performed the experiments; P.R. and V.C. analyzed the data; C.F. contributed to the bread production in the pilot plant; P.R. wrote the paper; G.S. and V.C. critically revised the manuscript.

**Conflicts of Interest:** The authors declare no conflict of interest.
