Inhibitory Effect Of Natural Extracts Against Bacteriophages Towards Evaluation Of Their Anti-Viral Potential

Abstract

Viral infections have caused wide-scale suffering and death globally throughout the history, very recent being the deadly Covid-19 infection. Many bacterial infections also result in various serious diseases. It is well known that microbial, especially viral infections are mainly transmitted between individuals through the respiratory and oral tract. Several chemicals based antimicrobial substances, like sanitizers and disinfectants are available to break this chain of transmission and prevent the development of disease. But these have some long-lasting side effects in human e.g. making the skin rough and scaly, depletion of beneficial microflora and even contributing to antimicrobial resistance. On the other hand, the use of natural and herbal based products addresses these drawbacks quite effectively. India has been traditionally known to possess a rich source of many plants and herbs, possessing potent antimicrobial, especially antiviral property. Thus, in the present study, the antiviral property of certain natural extracts e.g. beet, orange, drumsticks, cinnamon, ginger, neem and oregano, was evaluated by checking their inhibitory potential against bacteriophages, as bacteriophages are viruses with similar morphological and physiological features. It was observed that among these cinnamon, ginger and oregano exhibited the highest activity against the bacteriophages, which clearly demonstrated their potential to be used as antiviral therapeutics. Further this study also highlighted the need for further exploration of other natural extracts for treatment and prevention of various diseases.