{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,2]],"date-time":"2026-05-02T07:17:50Z","timestamp":1777706270007,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":80,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"12","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,6,11]],"date-time":"2024-06-11T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1718064000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100010801","name":"Xunta de Galicia","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["IN606A-2020\/028"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["IN606A-2020\/028"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100010801","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100010801","name":"Xunta de Galicia","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["IN607B 2023\/04"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["IN607B 2023\/04"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100010801","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Foods"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Antimicrobial tolerance is a significant concern in the food industry, as it poses risks to food safety and public health. To overcome this challenge, synergistic combinations of antimicrobials have emerged as a potential solution. In this study, the combinations of two essential oil constituents (EOCs), namely carvacrol (CAR) and eugenol (EUG), with the quaternary ammonium compounds (QACs) benzalkonium chloride (BAC) and didecyldimethylammonium chloride (DDAC) were evaluated for their antimicrobial effects against Escherichia coli and Bacillus cereus, two common foodborne bacteria. The checkerboard assay was employed to determine the fractional inhibitory concentration index (FICI) and the fractional bactericidal concentration index (FBCI), indicating the presence of bactericidal, but not bacteriostatic, synergy in all QAC\u2013EOC combinations. Bactericidal synergism was clearly supported by Bliss independence analysis. The bactericidal activity of the promising synergistic combinations was further validated by time\u2013kill curves, achieving a &gt;4-log10 reduction of initial bacterial load, which is significant compared to typical industry standards. The combinations containing DDAC showed the highest efficiency, resulting in the eradication of bacterial population in less than 2\u20134 h. These findings emphasize the importance of considering both bacteriostatic and bactericidal effects when evaluating antimicrobial combinations and the potential of EOC\u2013QAC combinations for sanitization and disinfection in the food industry.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/foods13121831","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,6,11]],"date-time":"2024-06-11T11:58:58Z","timestamp":1718107138000},"page":"1831","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":9,"title":["Synergistic Bactericidal Effects of Quaternary Ammonium Compounds with Essential Oil Constituents"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"13","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7843-4111","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Adri\u00e1n","family":"Pedreira","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Group of Recycling and Valorization of Waste Materials (REVAL), Spanish National Research Council (IIM-CSIC), R\u00faa Eduardo Cabello 6, 36208 Vigo, Spain"},{"name":"Biosystems and Bioprocess Engineering Group (Bio2Eng), Spanish National Research Council (IIM-CSIC), R\u00faa Eduardo Cabello 6, 36208 Vigo, Spain"},{"name":"LEPABE\u2014Laboratory for Process Engineering, Environment, Biotechnology and Energy, Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto, Rua Dr. Roberto Frias, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9132-5382","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Susana","family":"Fernandes","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"LEPABE\u2014Laboratory for Process Engineering, Environment, Biotechnology and Energy, Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto, Rua Dr. Roberto Frias, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3355-4398","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Manuel","family":"Sim\u00f5es","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"LEPABE\u2014Laboratory for Process Engineering, Environment, Biotechnology and Energy, Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto, Rua Dr. Roberto Frias, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal"},{"name":"ALiCE\u2014Associate Laboratory in Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto, Rua Dr. Roberto Frias, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9538-6388","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"M\u00edriam R.","family":"Garc\u00eda","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Biosystems and Bioprocess Engineering Group (Bio2Eng), Spanish National Research Council (IIM-CSIC), R\u00faa Eduardo Cabello 6, 36208 Vigo, Spain"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1122-4726","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jos\u00e9 Antonio","family":"V\u00e1zquez","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Group of Recycling and Valorization of Waste Materials (REVAL), Spanish National Research Council (IIM-CSIC), R\u00faa Eduardo Cabello 6, 36208 Vigo, Spain"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,6,11]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3087","DOI":"10.1128\/AEM.07534-11","article-title":"Efficacy of Biocides Used in the Modern Food Industry To Control Salmonella enterica, and Links between Biocide Tolerance and Resistance to Clinically Relevant Antimicrobial Compounds","volume":"78","author":"Condell","year":"2012","journal-title":"Appl. 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