Healthy wealth: Spices and herbs: Potential antiviral preventives and immunity boosters during COVID-19

A severe acute respiratory syndrome is an unusual type of contagious pneumonia that is caused by SARS coronavirus. At present, the whole world is trying to combat this coronavirus disease and scientific communities are putting rigorous efforts to develop vaccines. However, there are only a few specific medical treatments for SARS-CoV-2. Apart from other public health measures taken to prevent this virus, we can boost our immunity with natural products. In this article, we have highlighted the potential of common spices and herbs as antiviral agents and immunity boosters. A questionnaire - based online survey has been conducted on home remedies during COVID-19 among a wide range of peoples (n-531) of different age groups (13 – 68 years) from various countries. According to the survey, 71.8% of people are taking kadha for combating infection and boosting immunity. Most people (86.1%) think that there is no side effect of kadha while 13.9% think vice versa. A total of 93.6% of people think that spices are helpful in curing coronavirus or other viral infection as well as boosting immunity. Most people are using tulsi drops, vitamin C, and chyawanprash for boosting their immunity. Therefore, we conclude from the survey and available literature that spices and herbs play a significant role against viral infections.

1| INTRODUCTION. In December 2019, the people of Wuhan city of the Hubei province of China were suffered from deadly “SARS-CoV-2” like pneumonia which was later named coronavirus disease (COVID-19) by the World Health Organization (WHO) (Wang, Wang, Ye, &Liu,2020). The COVID-19 cases are increasing day by day, and there have been 37,423,660 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in more than 200 countries, including 1,074,817 deaths up to October 12, 2020. (https://covid19. who.int/). The WHO declared it initially a public health emergency of international concern and later pandemic where the COVID-19 symptoms include fever, sneezing, diarrhea, dry cough, malaise, respiratory distress, and shortness of breath. This virus (SARS-CoV-2) is a member of beta-coronavirus and is found similar to earlier coronavirus severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) and the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV), in its pathogenicity and clinical spectrum (Gurunathanetal.,2020).

Corona viruses (CoV) (family: Coronaviridae) are enveloped viruses containing non-segmented, positive-stranded genomic RNA. These viruses are pleomorphic particles ranging from 80–220 nm in diameter. The genome size of coronaviruses ranges from 26–32 kilobases (Mac Lachlan & Dubovi,2017). It has better genome sequence vis-à-vis to the SARS-CoV compared to MERS-CoV, but the amino acid sequence is different from the other coronavirus, especially in the region of 1ab polyprotein and S-protein or surface glycoprotein (Kannan, Ali, Sheeza, & Hemalatha, 2020). Their entire replication cycle takes place in the cytoplasm. Coronaviruses can cause several of diseases, including bronchitis, hepatitis, gastroenteritis, and even death in birds, humans, and other animals(Chafekar & Fielding, 2018). The coronavirus has been found to attack all types of people, especially elderly patients having diabetes, hypertension, cerebral infarction, chronic bronchitis, Parkinson's disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, cardiovascular disease, and cancer (Deng & Peng, 2020; Guan et al., 2020; Huang et al., 2020). Coronaviruses (CoVs) enter into the host cell through interaction between the S protein of the virus species and the receptor of the host cell. It will bind with the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 receptor from the host cell to create a suitable habitation for viral replication (Walls et al., 2020).

Natural-derived compounds constantly become a worthy therapeutic alternative against several diseases, including viral infections, because they are innately better tolerated in the human body. According to a study, from 1940 to 2014, 49% of all small molecules approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) were natural products or their derivates (Newman & Cragg, 2016).

Herbal exploration is continually performed, also to diminish coronavirus-related disease (Islam et al., 2020). Spices and herbs have been extensively studied globally due to their high antioxidant and antimicrobial activity in certain spices and their beneficial effects on humans. Spices contain many bioactive compounds that include flavonoids, phenolic compounds, sulfur-containing compounds, tannins, alkaloids, phenolic diterpenes, and so on (Devi, Umasanker, & Babu, 2012; Panpatil, Tattari, Kota, & Polasa, 2013; Patra, Jana, Mandal, & Bhattacharjee, 2016; Yashin, Yashin, Xia, & Nemzer, 2017). India has the recognized six systems of medicine, namely, Ayurveda, yoga, Unani, Siddha, naturopathy, and homeopathy (Ravishankar & Shukla, 2007). Ayurveda means the science of life, and it is not only considered as an ethnomedicine but also as a complete medical system for maintaining a healthy and happy living. In India, 20,000 plant species have been recorded, which are having medicinal value, but more than 500 traditional communities use only about 800 plant species for treating different diseases (Dev, 1997).

The outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 led to catastrophic events, as there was little specific treatment known to date for coronavirus. So there is a global need to search for the agents that can act against SARS-CoV-2 as a precautionary measure which boost our immunity during COVID19. Ministry of AYUSH, India has released an advisory on Ayurveda's immunity promoting methods for self-care during the COVID-19 pandemic, which includes the use of spices such as turmeric, cumin, coriander, and garlic that are recommended in cooking. They have also advised taking drink herbal tea/decoction (kadha) made from basil, cinnamon, black pepper, ginger, and raisin once or twice in a day. Natural sugar or fresh lemon juice can be added to enhance the taste. Half teaspoon turmeric powder can be added to 150 mL hot milk (Golden Milk) which can be taken once or twice a day (https://www.ayush.gov.in/). This article summarizes the scientific studies on the antiviral activities of spices and herbs along with their derivatives, mechanism of action, and prospects for future studies along with the survey based analysis.

2 | ANTIVIRAL PROPERTIES OF SPICES AND HERBS

Various medicinal plants/herbs are known as immunity boosters, namely,

Allium sativum (garlic), Tinosporacordifolia (Giloy), Ocimumbasilicum (Tulsi), and so on (Singh, Tailang, & Mehta, 2016). Different spices such as clove, cinnamon, ginger, black pepper, and turmeric are known as immunity boosters along with their antiviral property (Sharma, Gupta, & Prasad, 2017; Shrivastava, 2020; Srivastava, Chaurasia, Khan, Dhand, & Verma, 2020). In this article, we have highlighted the antiviral potential of common spices and herbs mainly curcumin, cinnamon, ginger, clove, black pepper, garlic, neem, giloy, basil used during COVID-19 as depicted in Figure 1. Neem leaves contain various compounds such as zinc, quercetin, vitamin A, vitamin B1, vitamin B2, vitamin B6, vitamin C, vitamin E, and so on, which may boost immunity (Garba & Mungadi, 2019).

2.1 | Curcumalonga L. (turmeric).

Turmeric (Curcuma longa L.) belongs to the family of ginger (Zingiberaceae) and natively grows in India and Southeast Asia. Rhizomes of this plant contain several secondary metabolites including curcuminoids, sesquiterpenes, steroids, and polyphenol as major bioactive substances (Omosa, Midiwo, & Kuete, 2017). Curcumin is a natural polyphenol that is isolated for turmeric (Curcuma longa)and has been used from centuries as a traditional medicine in Asian countries to treat various disorders. Several studies have shown that the curcumin possesses some pharmacological properties such as anti-inflammatory, anti-angiogenic, and anti-neoplastic, without toxicity. Food Drug Administration (FDA) categorized it as “Generally Recognized as Safe.” A dose of up to 12 g/day of curcumin was known to be safe for human consumption during the clinical trials without showing any side effects (Gupta, Patchva, & Aggarwal, 2013). Shrivastava (2020) reported that the dose of curcumin from 2,500 to 8,000 mg per day for 3 months showed no toxicity from curcumin. Curcumin is a dynamic antiviral that reduces the replication of viruses.

Antiviral activity of curcumin was observed against different viruses including hepatitis viruses, SARS coronavirus, influenza viruses, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), herpes simplex virus, dengue virus, chikungunya virus, and so on, as listed in Table 1. Curcumin's antiviral activities can also be evidenced by its ability to regulate various molecular targets that contribute to various cellular events, such as transcription regulation, and the activation of cellular signaling pathways (Joe, Vijaykumar, & Lokesh, 2004). Curcumin's role in targeting various cellular pathways, further inhibiting the growth, and replication of viruses makes it an ideal candidate as an anti-viral drug. Utomo, Ikawati, and Meiyanto (2020), based on their molecular docking study, reported that the curcumin binds and inhibits the target receptors including SARS-CoV-2 protease, spike glycoproteinRBD, and PD-ACE2, which are involved in virus infection.

2.2 | Zingiber officinale (ginger).

Ginger is one of the important medicinal plants which naturally occur in various countries. Ginger, Zingiber officinale, belongs to family Zingiberaceae and the other famous members of this plant family are turmeric, cardamom, and galangal. The plant is indigenous to Southeast Asia and is cultivated in several countries including India. Ginger (Zingiberofficinale) is known as Sunthi in Ayurveda and the description of the plant appears in the old text like Charaka, Sushruta, Vagbhatta, and Chakra-dutta (Agrahari, Panda, Verma, Khan, & Darbari, 2015).

FIGURE1: Common spices and herbs with antiviral properties. [Colour figure can be viewed at wileyonlinelibrary.com]

Spices and herbs 》1》

2》3 :

》1.1 : Cinnamon

SARS-COV, Human espiratory syncytial virus, Avian influenza virus.

》1.2 : Turmeric

SARS coronavirus, Herpes virus, Hepatitis, HIV, Chickungunya Virus, Dengue virus, Zikavirus.

》1.3 : Black pepper

Hepatitis B virus, Coxsackie virus type B3 , Dengue virus, Ebola virus.

》2.1: Clove

Herpes Simplex Virus, Influenza A virus, Feline Calicivirus.

》2.2: Ginger

Herpes simplex virus, Influenza virus, Chikungunya virus, SARS-CoV-2 .

》2.3: Garlic

Herpes simplex virus, influenza B, HIV, Rhinovirus, Cytomegalo virus.

》3.1: Basil herb

Coxsackie virus, Enterovirus 71, SARS- CoV-2, H9N2 virus.

》3.2: Giloy herb

HIV, Chikungunya virus, SARS-CoV-2

》3.3: Neem herb

Polio virus, Dengue virus, Hepatitis B & C virus, Influenza virus, SARS-CoV-2.

TABLE 1 : Antiviral properties and mechanism of action of Curcumin (bioactive compound from turmeric)

S. No. 1;

Virus: SARS coronavirus; Mechanism of action: Replication and protease activity inhibitor; References: Wenet al., 2007.

S. No.2;

Virus: Herpes virus;

Mechanism of action: Gene expression inhibition; References: Kutluay, Doroghazi, Roemer, & Triezenberg, 2008.

S. No.3 ;

Virus: Hepatitis B virus;

Mechanism of action: Replication inhibitor, cccDNA inhibitor;

References: Rechtman et al., 2010 ; Wei et al., 2017.

S. No.4;

Virus: Hepatitis C virus;

Mechanism of action: Entry inhibitor;

References: Anggakusuma et al., 2014.

S. No.5;

Virus: Human immunodeficiency virus;

Mechanism of action: Protease inhibitor, Integrase inhibitor, Tat protein inhibitor;

References: Balasubramanyam et al., 2004, Ali and Banerjea, 2016.

S. No.6 ;

Virus: Human papilloma virus;

Mechanism of action: Gene expression inhibition;

References: Maher et al., 2011; Mishra et al., 2015

S. No.7;

Virus: Respiratory syncytial virus;

Mechanism of action: Entry inhibitor replication and budding inhibition; References: Yang, Li, & Huang, 2016; Yang, Li, Li, Wang, & Huang, 2017.

S. No.8;

Virus: Chickun gunya virus; Mechanism of action: Entry inhibitor;

References: Rhein et al., 2016 Mounce, Cesaro, Carrau, Vallet, & Vignuzzi, 2017.

S. No.9;

Virus: Dengue virus;

Mechanism of action: Entry inhibitor, Particle production, Inhibition;

References: Chen et al., 2013; Padilla, Rodríguez, Gonzales, Gallego-g, & Castaño-o, 2014.

S. No.10;

Virus: Zikavirus;

Mechanism of action: Entry Inhibitor;

References: Mounce et al., 2017.

S. No.11;

Virus: Influenza A virus; Mechanism of action: Inhibitor of virus uptake, replication and particle production; References: Dai et al., 2018; Han, Xu, Guo, & Huang, 2018.

TABLE 2: Spices and herbs and their derivatives showing antiviral properties

Plant parts, extracts and compounds : Ginger; ZingiberofficinaleRosc (ZOR) induced conditioned medium;

Virus: Influenza A/Aichi/2/68 (Aichi) virus;

Mechanism of action: Via macrophage activation leading to production of TNF-α ;

Reference: Imanishi et al., 2006.

Plant parts, extracts and compounds: Ginger essential oil ;

Virus:Herpes simplex virus;

Mechanism of action: Disrupts virus envelope;

Reference: Schnitzler, Koch, & Reichling, 2007.

Plant parts, extracts and compounds: Aquatic extract of fresh ginger ;

Virus: Human respiratory syncytial virus;

Mechanism of action: Blocking viral attachment and stimulate mucosal cells to secrete IFN-β .

Reference: Chang, Wanga, Yeh, Shieh, & Chiang, 2013.

Plant parts, extracts and compounds:Hydroethanolic extract of ginger; Virus: Influenza virus; Mechanism of action:—;

Reference: Dorra, EL-Barrawy, Sallam, & Mahmoud, 2019.

Plant parts, extracts and compounds: Aquatic extract of ginger; Virus:Chikungunya virus;

Mechanism of action: Inhibition of cytopathic effect and cell viability; Reference Sulochana, Jangra, Kundu, Yadav, &Kaushik, 2020.

Plant parts, extracts and compounds: Bioactive compounds of ginger (gingerol, geraniol,shogaol, zingiberene, zingiberenol, zingerone); Virus: SARS-CoV-2; Mechanism of action: Block the S protein from bindingto the ACE2 receptor or act as an inhibitor for MPro;

Reference: Ahkam, Hermanto, Alamsyah, Aliyyah, & Fatchiyah, 2020.

Plant parts, extracts and compounds: Cinnamon ; Procyanidins and butanol extract ;

Virus: SARS-CoV; Mechanism of action: Interference of clathrin-dependent endocytosis; Reference: Zhuanga et al., 2009.

Plant parts, extracts and compounds: Cinnamon ;Water extract; Virus: Human respiratory syncytial virus; Mechanism of action: Inhibition of viral attachment and internalization; Reference: Yeh, Chang, Wang, Shieh, & Chiang, 2013.

Plant parts, extracts and compounds: Silver nanoparticles of cinnamon bark;

Virus: Avianinfluenza virus subtype H7N3;

Mechanism of action: Interaction with viral genome and cellular factors or pathways of host cells required for viral replication;

Reference:Fatima, Zaidi, Amraiz, & Afzal, 2016.

Plant parts, extracts and compounds: Cinnamaldehyde; Virus: T2 bacteriophage;

Mechanism of action: Inhibit the replication of T2 bacteriophage;

Reference: Goldstein & Shumaker, 2019.

Plant parts, extracts and compounds: Clove Eugeniin; Virus: Herpes simplex virus 1 and 2; Mechanism of action: Inhibiting DNA polymerase, — ; Reference: Kurokawa et al., 1998.

Plant parts, extracts and compounds: Eugenol;

Virus: Influenza A virus; Mechanism of action: Inhibit viral replication and reducing infection; Reference: Reichling, Schnitzler, Suschke, & Saller, 2009.

Plant parts, extracts and compounds: Clove extract ; Virus: Feline calicivirus, a surrogate for human Norovirus; Mechanism of action: —; Reference: Aboubakr et al., 2016.

Plant parts, extracts and compounds: Black pepper ; Amide alkaloid; Virus: Hepatitis B virus;

Mechanism of action: Unclear ; Reference: Hao et al., 2012.

Plant parts, extracts and compounds: Black pepper; Extract ; Virus: Coxsackie virus type B3;

Mechanism of action: Cytopathic effect inhibition ; Reference:Mair et al., 2016.

Plant parts, extracts and compounds: Black pepper; Piperine ; Virus: Dengue virus, Ebola virus ; Mechanism of action: Inhibit Methyltransferase, VP35 interferon inhibitory domain; Reference: Nag & Chowdhury, 2020.

Plant parts, extracts and compounds: Basil: Ursolic acid; Virus: Coxsackievirus, Enterovirus 71 ;

Mechanism of action: Infection and replication inhibitor; Reference: Chiang, Ng, Cheng, Chiang, & Lin, 2005.

Plant parts, extracts and compounds: Essential oil and monoterpenes (camphor and 1,8-cineol) ; Virus: Bovine viral diarrhoea virus; Mechanism of action: Viral particle inhibitor ; Reference: Kubiça, Alves, Weiblen, & Lovato, 2014.

Plant parts, extracts and compounds: Crude extract and terpenoid; Virus: H9N2virus;

Mechanism of action: —; Reference: Ghoke et al., 2018.

Plant parts, extracts and compounds: Rosmarinic acid, Oleanolic acid, Ursolic acid and Methyl eugenol; Virus: SARS-CoV-2; Mechanism of action: Main protease; Reference: Kumar, 2020.

TABLE 2 (Continued)

Plant parts, extracts and compounds : Garlic Sulfur constituents; Virus: Coxsackie virus species, herpes simplex virus types 1 and 2, influenza B; Mechanism of action: — ; Reference: Tsai et al., 1985 .

Plant parts, extracts and compounds : Ajoene, Allyl alcohol and diallyl disulfide ; Virus: HIV; Mechanism of action: Inhibiting the integrin dependent processes; Reference: Tatarintsev et al., 1992.

Plant parts, extracts and compounds:Allicin;

Virus : Commoncold virus (rhinovirus); Mechanism of action: Reaction with thiol groups of various enzymes, e.g., alcohol dehydrogenase; Reference: Ankri & Mirelman, 1999.

Plant parts, extracts and compounds: Allitridin ;

Virus: Cytomegalovirus; Mechanism of action: Treg amplification; Reference: Zhen et al., 2006.

Plant parts, extracts and compounds: Extract of garlic ; Virus: Newcastle disease virus; Mechanism of action: Blocking of attachment of virus to the cell receptors ; Reference: Harazem, Rahman, & Kenawy, 2019.

Plant parts, extracts and compounds: Neem NIM-76 ; Virus: Polio virus; Mechanism of action: Inhibits viral multiplication; Reference: Sai Ram et al., 2000.