The First Large-scale Screening of Botanical Extracts for Antiviral Activity Against the Sars-cov-2 Virus [STUDY]

An Emory University study reveals that two common wild plants have extracts that prevent the COVID-19 virus from infecting live cells.

Scientific Reports released the findings of the first significant examination of botanical extracts to assess their effectiveness against the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

Wild plants extract prevents COVID-19 virus from human cells

(Photo : PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images)

Both tall goldenrod (Solidago altissima) flower extracts and eagle fern (Pteridium aquilinum) rhizome extracts prevented SARS-CoV-2 from infecting human cells, as per SciTechDaily.

The plants only contain trace amounts of the active chemicals.

According to the experts, treating oneself with them would be futile and possibly harmful. They caution that the eagle fern is toxic.

To find viable new candidates for contemporary medications, Quave, an ethnobotanist, researched how indigenous people have been using plants as medicine.

Her laboratory manages the Quave Natural Product Library, which is home to thousands of botanicals and fungi-based natural products that were derived from plants that were gathered at various locations around the world.

The Quave lab focused on plants that indigenous people have traditionally used to treat skin inflammation during earlier studies to find promising compounds for the treatment of drug-resistant bacterial infections.

Raymond Schinazi, an author, and co-director of the HIV Cure Scientific Working Group is also a professor of pediatrics at Emory, the director of the Division of Laboratory of Biochemical Pharmacology at Emory, and co-director of the HIV Cure Scientific Working Group.

Schinazi, a pioneer in the creation of antivirals and a global leader in the field, is best recognized for his work on ground-breaking HIV medications.

The two plant extracts were tested in studies utilizing the contagious SARS-CoV-2 virus rather than VLPs due to the Schinazi lab's higher biosecurity rating.

The outcomes supported the hypothesis that tall goldenrod and eagle fern extracts could prevent SARS-CoV-2 from binding to and infecting live cells.

Next, the scientists are trying to pinpoint the precise method through which the two plant extracts prevent binding to ACE2 proteins.

Also Read: A Qatari Farmer Has Been Planted Medicinal Plants in the Desert

How indigenous use plant medicine

Indigenous inhabitants of the Rainforest have used many of these plants for therapeutic purposes, and the scientific community generally respects their empirical plant knowledge, as per News Desk.

According to theory, they do not just pick these medical plants at random.

The therapeutic potency of the plants influences selection to some extent; therefore, some plant families would be preferred over others.

Medicinal uses of plant tall goldenrod

Goldenrod is used as a diuretic to enhance urine flow, relieve pain and inflammation, stop muscle spasms, and reduce swelling and soreness, as per RxList.

Along with treating eczema and other skin disorders, it is also used to treat gout, arthritis, rheumatism, and joint discomfort.

Moreover, latency-related tuberculosis infections (latency), diabetes, liver enlargement, hemorrhoids, internal bleeding, hay fever, asthma, and enlarged prostate are all treated with goldenrod.

Medicinal uses of the plant eagle fern

The large fern species known as Bracken Fern, commonly referred to as eagle fern, can be found in temperate and subtropical climates in both hemispheres.

Its spores are extremely light, which has contributed to their widespread dissemination, as per plantsforsurvival.

Pteridium aquilinum, often known as the bracken fern, is used to treat rheumatism, weak blood, uterine prolapse, postpartum pain, caked breasts, weakness, headaches, make good blood after menses or childbirth, diarrhea, nausea, and vomiting, infections, and stomach pains.