Table 1.

Representative compounds for the most common disinfectants used in sanitary disinfection programmes in the food industry.

Disinfectants	Characteristics	Function	Types of Microorganisms Acting	References
Sodium hypochlorite (NaClO)	strong oxidising agents	Eliminate cells given their ability to cross the cell membrane, and to oxidise the sulfhydryl groups of certain enzymes participating in the glycolytic pathway. Can react with wide-ranging biological molecules under physiological pH conditions, such as proteins, amino acids, lipids, peptides, and DNA.	Staphylococcus aureus, Prevotella intermedia, Peptostreptococcus miros, Streptococcus intermedius, Fusobacterium nucleatum, Enterococcus faecalis, Listeria monocytogenes, Pseudomonas fragi, Staphylococcus xylosus, Bacillus cereus	[20,43]
Quaternary ammonium (QACs)	surface-active agents, membrane-active agents, hydrophobic activity	Reduces surface tension and forms micelles, leading to dispersion in the liquid to facilitate microbial removal. Interact with not only the cytoplasmic membrane of bacteria but with the plasma membrane of yeast. effective against lipid-containing viruses. Interact with intracellular targets and bind to DNA.	Listeria monocytogenes, Bacillus cereus, Staphylococcus spp., Pseudomonas spp.	[20,32]
Peracetic acid (PAA)	strong oxidising agents	Capable of causing the oxidation of thiol groups in proteins, disruption of membranes, or damage to bases in DNA.	Listeria monocytogenes, Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa	[32,44]
Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2)	highly oxidising capacity	Production of free radicals affecting the biofilm matrix.	Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Vibrio spp.,	[5,43,45]