Figure 1.

Diagrams illustrating the applied cleaning and disinfection (C&D) treatments. Each arrow represents the step in the protocol where coupons were rinsed three times in H₂O. Red circles indicate the steps where coupons were harvested for the determination of colony forming units (CFU) coupon⁻¹. For steps involving cleaning agent A, red boxes indicate incubation for 10 min at room temperature (RT), while blue boxes indicate incubation for 30 min with cleaning solution pre-heated to 45 °C, and incubation either at (b) RT or (c) 45 °C. For additional details, see the main text. (a) Standard C&D treatment described in Section 2.5.1 and employed in the experiment shown in Figure 2. (b) C&D biofilm treatment with the enzymatic cleaning agent described in Section 2.5.2 and Figure 3. (c) Reinforced treatment with cleaning agents, see Section 2.5.3 and Figure 4a. The cleaning steps shown in light blue and dark blue boxes («A» and «Enz») represent identical treatments; different coloring (light/dark blue) is employed to coordinate with the colors used in Figure 4a. (d) C&D with higher concentrations of chemical cleaners, see Section 2.5.3 and Figure 4b.