Title:Phytochemicals as Potential Curative Agents against Viral Infection: A Review
Volume: 24
Issue: 20
Author(s): Abhijeet Kumar, Anil Kumar Singh*Garima Tripathi*
Affiliation:
- Department of Chemistry, School of Physical Sciences, Mahatma Gandhi Central University, Bihar,India
- Department of Chemistry, T. N. B. College, TMBU, Bhagalpur, Bihar,India
Keywords:
Phytochemicals, antiviral, flavonoids, alkaloid, terpenoids, COVID-19.
Abstract: The present pandemic erupted due to highly contagious coronavirus SARS-CoV-
2, and lack of any efficient therapy to restrain its infection and treatment, led the scientific
community to re-evaluate the efficacy of commonly available phytochemicals as potential
therapeutic agents. The vast pharmacological activities and medicinal significance of the
plant-derived natural products against a diverse range of physiological disorders and diseases
are well documented. Under the current health emergency across the world, there is an
urgent requirement of repurposing of the available FDA approved drugs and natural products
which could help in controlling the infections and alleviating the severity of the diseases
as discovering entirely new chemical entity as a novel drug would be a protracted and
costly journey. Some of the phytochemicals have already displayed potential anti-viral
activity against different targets of SARS-CoV-2 virus. The present review would provide an account of the
prevalent phytochemicals with antiviral activities, which would help in the development of promising drug therapy
for the treatment of COVID-19 and similar such highly infectious viruses.