Antiviral Properties of Food Plants could help to Reduce Contagion and Severity in SARS-CoV-2 Infection

Introduction: It is important to find tools to help patients and prevent viral diffusion of pneumonia caused by the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV or SARS-CoV-2). Recent articles have reported site-specific SARS-CoV-2 infection on a patient's body, specifically a very active replication in the throat and upper respiratory tract, even at the mild stage of the disease, which shows its efficient viral transmission in sputum. Materials and Methods: An alternative that may be feasible is to resort to scientific studies that demonstrate the antiviral potential of medicinal plants species through in-vitro and in-vivo experiments to alleviate symptoms and prevent the spread of contagion. A literature search on Scopus and PubMed on herbs and foods with antiviral properties was performed. Results: This resulted in hundreds of publications showing a diversity of plants with antiviral effects against different virus infections. This article focuses on plants that are of common use, which could act against COVID-19. Conclusion: Herbs and foods with demonstrated antiviral potential have been identified, limiting SARS-CoV-2 spread by interfering with ACE2 protein on infection sites. The analysis of transdisciplinary knowledge allows us to connect previous research on the action of common plants and foods on viruses to limit the replication of SARS-CoV-2 in the throat and upper respiratory tract.