In this video, we're going to continue to talk about surface active agents or surfactants by specifically introducing quats. Quats is really just an abbreviation for Quaternary Ammonium Compounds. Quats, or Quaternary Ammonium Compounds, are really just cationic detergents. What this means is that these are detergents that have a positive charge associated with them. These quats, or Quaternary Ammonium Compounds, are cationic detergents that are actually safe enough to be used in food preparation. Now these quats, or Quaternary Ammonium Compounds, are amphipathic molecules, which once again recall from our previous lesson videos, just means that they have both hydrophobic groups that are water-fearing and hydrophilic groups that are water-loving.

Taking a look at this image below, notice that we're focusing on these Quaternary Ammonium Compounds or quats. Notice over here on the left-hand side we're showing you a quat molecule. Notice that it is an amphipathic molecule because it has this hydrophobic tail group that is water-fearing and then it also has this hydrophilic head group which is actually a quaternary ammonium group. These quats are amphipathic molecules that have a positively charged quaternary ammonium group.

Now these quats do actually have antimicrobial features, which means they have the ability to destroy or kill microbes. This is because these quats or Quaternary Ammonium Compounds have the ability to disrupt cytoplasmic membranes, and they can do that by inserting into the phospholipid bilayer. If we take a look at this image down below, notice that we're showing you a plasma membrane being disrupted by these quat molecules that are found here. These quat molecules are disrupting the phospholipid bilayer, from associating as it normally would. Therefore, it can create leaks in the membranes and ultimately destroy the microbe.

This here concludes our brief introduction to quats, these positively charged or cationic detergents. We'll be able to get some practice applying these concepts as we move forward. So, I'll see you all in our next video.