Polyphenolic Natural Products Active In Silico Against SARS-CoV-2 Spike Receptor Binding Domains and Non-structural Proteins - A Review

The ongoing Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic has been proven to be more severe than the previous coronavirus outbreaks due to the virus’ high transmissibility. With the emergence of new variants, this global phenomenon took a more dramatic turn, with many countries recently experiencing higher surges of confirmed cases and deaths. On top of this, the inadequacy of effective treatment options for COVID-19 aggravated the problem. As a way to address the unavailability of target-specific viral therapeutics, computational strategies have been employed to hasten and systematize the search. The objective of this review is to provide initial data highlighting the utility of polyphenols as potential prophylaxis or treatment for COVID-19. In particular, presented here are virtually screened polyphenolic compounds which showed potential as either antagonists to viral entry and host cell recognition through binding with various receptor-binding regions of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein or as inhibitors of viral replication and post-translational modifications through binding with essential SARS-CoV-2 non-structural proteins.