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. 2023 Mar 4;15(3):682.
doi: 10.3390/v15030682.

Effects of Essential Oils and Hydrolates on the Infectivity of Murine Norovirus

Loredana Cozzi  1 , Teresa Vicenza  1 , Roberta Battistini  2 , Chiara Masotti  2 , Elisabetta Suffredini  1 , Simona Di Pasquale  1 , Marie-Laure Fauconnier  3 , Carlo Ercolini  2 , Laura Serracca  2
Affiliations

Effects of Essential Oils and Hydrolates on the Infectivity of Murine Norovirus

Loredana Cozzi et al. Viruses. .

Abstract

The use of natural substances with antiviral properties might reduce foodborne viral diseases. In this study, we evaluated the virucidal effect of Citrus limon and Thymus serpyllum essential oils (EOs) and of Citrus Limon, Thymus serpyllum and Thymus vulgaris hydrolates on murine norovirus (MNV), a human norovirus surrogate. To assess the virucidal effect of these natural substances, the reduction in viral infectivity was estimated by comparing the TCID50/mL of untreated viral suspension and the viral suspension treated with hydrolates and EOs at different concentrations. The results showed a natural loss of infectivity of the untreated virus after 24 h of approx. 1 log. The EO (1%) of T. serpyllum, and hydrolates (1% and 2%) of T. serpyllum and T. vulgaris immediately caused a reduction in MNV infectivity of about 2 log but did not provide a further significant decrease after 24 h. Instead, the EO (1%) and hydrolate (1% and 2%) of C. limon exerted an immediate reduction in the viral infectivity of about 1.3 log and 1 log, respectively, followed by a further reduction in infectivity of 1 log after 24 h for the hydrolate. These results will allow for the implementation of a depuration treatment based on the use of these natural compounds.

Keywords: Citrus limon; Thymus serpyllum; Thymus vulgaris; natural compounds; norovirus; virucidal activity.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest. The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript; or in the decision to publish the results.

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