Secondary metabolites from spice and herbs as potential multitarget inhibitors of SARS-CoV-2 proteins

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has been responsible for the current global pandemic that has caused a death toll of >1.12 million worldwide and number continues to climb in several countries. Currently, there are neither specific antiviral drugs nor vaccines for the treatment and prevention of COVID-19. We screened in silico, a group of natural spice and herbal secondary metabolites (SMs) for their inhibition efficacy against multiple target proteins of SARS-CoV-2 as well as the human angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 protein. Docking and simulation results indicated that epicatechin, embelin, hesperidin, cafestol, murrayanine and murrayaquinone-A have higher inhibition efficacy over at least one of the known antiviral drugs such as Hydroxychloroquine, Remdesivir and Ribavirin. Combination of these potentially effective SMs from their respective plant sources was analysed, and its absorption and acute oral toxicity were examined in Wistar rats and classified as category 5 as per the Globally Harmonized System. The identified SMs may be useful in the development of preventive nutraceuticals, food supplements and antiviral drugs. Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma

Automated summary

In this study, a group of natural spice and herbal secondary metabolites (SMs) were screened, and it was found that some of these substances have higher inhibitory efficacy against SARS-CoV-2 and human target proteins. These identified SMs may be useful in the development of preventive nutraceuticals, food supplements, and antiviral drugs.