In this paper, the photocatalytic inactivation efficiency of phages infecting lactic acid bacteria (LAB) was evaluated. Ten bacteriophages (ATCC 15807-B1, 832-B1, 0241, 204, 342, MLC-A, J-1, OBJ, CND and QF9) dispersed on TiO2-coated plates were exposed to UV-A radiation during different periods of time. Two kinds of efficiencies were defined and assessed: (i) the apparent photonic yield and (ii) the quantum yield of inactivation. Considering all phages studied in this work, dissimilar values of inactivation efficiencies were found: the results differ in more than one order of magnitude. The highest inactivation efficiency was found for the bacteriophage J-1, whereas the lowest one was obtained for the phage 342. The data presented in this work can provide useful information to design innovative and effective treatments to be applied in laboratories and industrial plants which handle LAB strains. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.