Medicinal plants as COVID-19 remedy

ABSTRACT

COVID-19 (coronavirus) is an infectious disease which disturbs the modern world socially and economically. SARS-CoV-2, a causative agent of COVID-19, is a global pandemic. It is a fast-spreading disease which is largest ever pandemic in human history. The origin of this disease is still not known, and vaccine or medicine for the cure of infection has not been discovered so far. But various medicinal plants are used in different countries as a therapeutic treatment for COVID infection to help the immune system fight against COVID-19 disease. Various plant products contain high amount of vitamin C, boost up human immune system, and help to cure the disease. The medicinal and herbal plants act as effective therapeutic agents against coronavirus infection. The SARS-CoV-2 infection can also be relieved by a combined therapy of medicinal plants based on their properties. As COVID-19 can cause multiple organ disease, the use of natural products and medicinal plants may inhibit the SARS-CoV-2 life cycle linked proteins, i.e., papain-like or chymotrypsin-like proteases. In this article, different medicinal plants and herbs and their bioactive components that help in enhancing our immune system and play a role in fighting microbial infections as well as COVID-19 infection are discussed. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021.