REVIEW: Curative Potential of High-Value Phytochemicals on COVID-19 Infection

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Damodaran Sruthi^1,a*, Menamadathil Dhanalakshmi², Hoovinakola Chinnappa Yashavantha Rao¹, Ramalingam Parthasarathy¹, Shashikala Paranthaman Deepanraj³, and Chelliah Jayabaskaran¹

¹Department of Biochemistry, Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, Karnataka, 560012, India

²Research and Development Centre, Bharathiar University, Marudhamalai Road, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, 641046, India

³Department of Biological Sciences, Tata Institute for Genetics and Society, Instem building, National Centre for Biological Sciences Campus, Bengaluru, Karnataka, 560065, India

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed.

Received September 12, 2022; Revised December 10, 2022; Accepted December 28, 2022

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Medicinal plants and their therapeutically promising chemical compounds belonging to the valued category of ‘traditional medicine’ are potential remedies for various health problems. Due to their complex structure and enormous health benefits, the high-value plant-derived metabolites collectively termed as ‘phytochemicals’ have emerged as a crucial source for novel drug discovery and development. Indeed, several medicinal plants from diverse habitats are still in the ‘underexplored’ category in terms of their bioactive principles and therapeutic potential. COVID-19, infection caused by the SARS-CoV-2, first reported in November 2019, resulted in the alarming number of deaths (6.61 million), was further declared ‘pandemic’, and spread of the disease has continued till today. Even though the well-established scientific world has successfully implemented vaccines against COVID-19 within the short period of time, the focus on alternative remedies for long-term symptom management and immunity boosting have been increased. At this point, interventions based on traditional medicine, which include medicinal plants, their bioactive metabolites, extracts and formulations, attracted a lot of attention as alternative solutions for COVID-19 management. Here, we reviewed the recent research findings related to the effectiveness of phytochemicals in treatment or prevention of COVID-19. Furthermore, the literature regarding the mechanisms behind the preventive or therapeutic effects of these natural phytochemicals were also discussed. In conclusion, we suggest that the active plant-derived components could be used alone or in combination as an alternative solution for the management of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Moreover, the structure of these natural productomes may lead to the emergence of new prophylactic strategies for SARS-CoV-2-caused infection.

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KEY WORDS: natural products, high-value phytochemicals, terpenoids, alkaloids, phenolics, medicinal plants, COVID-19

DOI: 10.1134/S0006297923010066

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