Adenosinetriphosphate

ATP is a chemical found in all living cells.

The amount of ATP is proportional to the number of living cells but is not always proportional to traditional CFU/ML measurements used in the field

Larger cells show higher ATP values and this affects the final microbial counts

When a cell dies, ATP production is stopped and the ATP which has been made is rapidly degraded.

A measure of ATP is proportional to the number of living cells, including large and small cells

When there is no ATP detected, it is generally accepted that there are no more living cells