Can you use green tea to clean the air? According to an official statement by the ministry of science and technology, a newly developed air filtering technique uses ingredients commonly found in green tea to deactivate germs. The research belongs to a team from the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru.

The team was led by professors Suryasarathi Bose and Kaushik Chatterjee. The technique they came up with can inactivate germs that find refuge inside air filters using ingredients such as polyphenols and polycationic polymers which are found in green tea, as per a report by PTI.

"The 'green' ingredients rupture the microbes through site-specific binding. With prolonged use, air filters become a breeding ground for captured germs. The growth of these germs clogs the pores of the filter, reducing their life. Re-suspension of these germs can infect people in the vicinity," the statement read.

"The novel antimicrobial air filters were tested at a NABL-accredited laboratory and were found to be 99.24 per cent effective against SARS-CoV-2 (delta variant). The technology was transferred to AIRTH, a start-up that is replacing the existing germ-growing air filters with these germ-destroying air filters for commercial purposes," it added.

"The air-filtering technique was granted a patent in 2022. The deployment of these novel antimicrobial filters in ACs, central ducts, and air purifiers can play a crucial role in the fight against air pollution and mitigate the spread of air-borne pathogens such as several coronaviruses, the document added, as per PTI.