Exerting an Effect at the Target

Bacteria are known to react differently to antibacterial agents. This is due either to inherent differences, which may be their unique cell envelope composition or proteins not being susceptible or as a result of resistance development, by adaptation exchange of genetic information. For organic acids to be effective as an antibacterial, they must be able to penetrate the cell envelope and attain a sufficiently high concentration at the target site where they will exert antibacterial action (Cloete, 2003). 

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