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Review
. 2020 Jun 26;9(6):800.
doi: 10.3390/plants9060800.

Aromatic Herbs, Medicinal Plant-Derived Essential Oils, and Phytochemical Extracts as Potential Therapies for Coronaviruses: Future Perspectives

Mohamed Nadjib Boukhatem  1 , William N Setzer  2   3
Affiliations
Review

Aromatic Herbs, Medicinal Plant-Derived Essential Oils, and Phytochemical Extracts as Potential Therapies for Coronaviruses: Future Perspectives

Mohamed Nadjib Boukhatem et al. Plants (Basel). .

Abstract

After its recent discovery in patients with serious pneumonia in Wuhan (China), the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV), named also Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), has spread quickly. Unfortunately, no drug or vaccine for treating human this coronavirus infection is available yet. Numerous options for controlling or preventing emerging 2019-nCoV infections may be predicted, including vaccines, interferon therapies, and small-molecule drugs. However, new interventions are likely to require months to years to develop. In addition, most of the existing antiviral treatments frequently lead to the development of viral resistance combined with the problem of side effects, viral re-emergence, and viral dormancy. The pharmaceutical industry is progressively targeting phytochemical extracts, medicinal plants, and aromatic herbs with the aim of identifying lead compounds, focusing principally on appropriate alternative antiviral drugs. Spices, herbal medicines, essential oils (EOs), and distilled natural products provide a rich source of compounds for the discovery and production of novel antiviral drugs. The determination of the antiviral mechanisms of these natural products has revealed how they interfere with the viral life cycle, i.e., during viral entry, replication, assembly, or discharge, as well as virus-specific host targets. Presently, there are no appropriate or approved drugs against CoVs, but some potential natural treatments and cures have been proposed. Given the perseverance of the 2019-nCoV outbreak, this review paper will illustrate several of the potent antiviral chemical constituents extracted from medicinal and aromatic plants, natural products, and herbal medicines with recognized in vitro and in vivo effects, along with their structure-effect relationships. As this review shows, numerous potentially valuable aromatic herbs and phytochemicals are awaiting assessment and exploitation for therapeutic use against genetically and functionally different virus families, including coronaviruses.

Keywords: 2019-nCoV; COVID-19; MERS-CoV; SARS-CoV; Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2; antiviral activity; essential oils; herbal medicines; medicinal plants; phytochemicals.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The taxonomy of the order Nidovirales. https://epomedicine.com/medical-students/coronavirus-disease-covid-2019/; (CSSE; FT research; Updated: 17 March 2020, 10:00 GMT). SARS, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, MERS, Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus, nCov, novel coronavirus. α: Alpha; β: Beta; γ: Gamma; δ: Delta.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Aromatic plants tested against SARS-CoV: (a) Pyrrosia lingua [60]; (b) Artemisia annua [61].
Figure 3
Figure 3
(a) Structure of glycyrrhizic acid (glycyrrhizin; glycyrrhizinic acid) [63]; (b) Glycyrrhiza glabra. [64].
Figure 3
Figure 3
(a) Structure of glycyrrhizic acid (glycyrrhizin; glycyrrhizinic acid) [63]; (b) Glycyrrhiza glabra. [64].
Figure 4
Figure 4
(a) Baicalin structural formula: baicalin is a flavone (flavonoid) found in several species of the genus Scutellaria, including (b) Scutellaria baicalensis root [66].
Figure 5
Figure 5
Lycorine chemical structure. It is a toxic alkaloid found in various Amaryllidaceae species (other names: galanthidine, amaryllis, narcissine) [69].
Figure 6
Figure 6
Flowers of honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica Thunb) [70].
Figure 7
Figure 7
Korean ginseng (Panax ginseng) [71].
Figure 8
Figure 8
Nookta Rose (Rosa nutkana) [72].
Figure 9
Figure 9
Potentilla arguta [73].
Figure 10
Figure 10
Sambucus racemosa (red elderberry) [74].
Figure 11
Figure 11
Theaflavin chemical structure. Theaflavin is an effective inhibitor of influenza A (H1N1) neuraminidase [77].
Figure 12
Figure 12
Chemical structures of saikosaponins a, c, and d [25].
Figure 13
Figure 13
Myricetin chemical structure. Myricetin is a widespread plant-derived flavonoid with wide-ranging beneficial biological activities such as antioxidant, anticancer, and anti-inflammatory activities [83].
Figure 14
Figure 14
Scutellarein chemical structure [84].
Figure 15
Figure 15
Isatis indigotica Fort. (Fam. Brassicaceae) [85].
Figure 16
Figure 16
Japanese nutmeg-yew (Torreya nucifera) [86].
Figure 17
Figure 17
Houttuynia cordata [87].
Figure 18
Figure 18
Astragali radix [103].
Figure 19
Figure 19
Rhizoma Atractylodes macrocephalae [104].
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