Characterization of virus retentive membranes by a tailor-made dextran method

The objective of the study was to develop a routine method for the characterization of virus retentive membranes. The dextran method was found to be well suited after intensive investigations and adjustments of the filtration parameters. Clear reproducible correlations of the sieving curves of different membranes to their phages and virus retention abilities are demonstrated. The new method seems to be ideally suited for the characterization of virus filter membranes and will boost their further development.