Scientists from Brazil and the UK have found that moringa extract can remove up to 98.5% of microplastics from water.
During the study, specialists examined the impact of the substance on polyvinyl chloride particles, which are considered some of the most common and dangerous contaminants in drinking water. Experiments with medium-sized microplastics of 18.8 micrometers showed that using an extract from the seeds of the plant allows for almost complete purification of flowing water.
Researcher Gonsalves dos Reis, along with colleagues, has been studying the properties of moringa seeds for ten years. The scientists considered them as a coagulant—a substance that helps to aggregate small particles into larger ones, making their removal from the liquid easier. Increased interest in the topic arose against the backdrop of growing attention to the problem of microplastics.
It was also found that the natural extract is comparable in effectiveness to alum—a widely used chemical coagulant. At the same time, moringa seeds are characterized by being a renewable and biodegradable resource, do not form sediment, and have lower toxicity.
Moringa is a plant native to the foothills of the Himalayas, known for its nutritional and medicinal properties, as reported by bb.lv. Its seeds have been used for water purification since ancient times, and modern research confirms that natural solutions can become an important alternative to chemical methods in the fight against pollution.
