Effective Removal of Enteric Viruses by Moringa oleifera Seed Extract Functionalized Cotton Filter

Accessible and low-cost point-of-use water treatment
technology
have significant potential to mitigate the risk to public health,
particularly in areas with limited resources and in disaster scenarios.
Natural cotton fibers functionalized with water-soluble proteins from Moringa oleifera seeds (MO-cotton filter)
are a promising technology that exhibits high water permeability and
effective removal of various contaminants.. Here, we demonstrated
the performance of MO-cotton filters under practically
relevant conditions to remove mammalian virus spiked in groundwater.
Specifically, MO-cotton filters achieved >3.2-log10 reduction at a superficial velocity of 0.7 m/h of two mammalian
viruses, Tulane virus (TV, Caliciviridae, nonenveloped
virus) and Transmissible gastroenteritis virus (TGEV, Coronaviridae, enveloped virus), which are representative of a significant portion
of waterborne illnesses. We further evaluated the risk of virus particles
detached due to shear forces by testing their infectivity and found
that the viruses accumulated on the MO-cotton filters
pose a minimal risk of contaminating the drinking water source. These
findings support that the MO-cotton filter can serve
as a point-of-use water purification technology, effectively reducing
viruses to a safe drinking water level.