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Green tea, aronia juice, and pomegranate juice killed influenza and SARS-CoV-2 viruses when incubated with viruses in vitro. Therefore, oral rinsing using these could be effective in preventing COVID-19.
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the virus that causes the global COVID-19 pandemic, affects the airways. It has a high transmissibility even before symptoms are visible, making the spread extremely rapid.
The virus initially infects the upper respiratory tract, entering the body mainly through the nose and throat, causing respiratory symptoms such as sore throat and cough. Some recent studies have reported that gargling with commercial mouthwashes can reduce infection and spread of the virus.
It has also been claimed that many natural products have antiviral activity. For example, pomegranate and black chokeberry extracts have been reported in vitro activity against the flu virus and gargling with green tea reduced flu infections. Therefore, it would be useful to study the broad-spectrum antiviral activity of natural products that could curb the spread of respiratory viruses and are cheap and easy to adopt.
Virucidal activity of natural products against MVA, IAV, SARS-CoV-2 and AdV5. MVA, IAV (A / H1N1 / Brisbane / 59/2007), SARS-CoV-2 (BetaCoV / France / IDF0372 / 2020) or AdV5 (adenoid 75) were incubated with the products of plant origin for the indicated contact times before the series titration and inoculation of the target cells. Viral titers were determined by monitoring the cytopathic effect and calculated as tissue culture infectious dose 50 (TCID50) according to Spearman-Kaerber. The lower limit of quantification (LLOQ) is defined by the titration limit (dashed line) or by the cytotoxicity of the compound (#). The error bars indicate the standard deviation and italics above the corresponding bars indicate the decrease of the titers from the control.
Natural products effective in inhibiting SARS-CoV-2
Researchers from the Institute of Molecular Virology, the University of Ulm Medical Center, the Technische Universitaet Dresden and CogniVerde GmbH report the effect of green tea and black chokeberry, pomegranate and elderberry juices on the prevention of viral infections in cells. For their study, posted on the prepress server bioRxiv*, the authors used Vero E6 cells to test for vaccine virus, influenza A virus, adenovirus type 5, and SARS-CoV-2.
The team mixed the herbal substances with the viruses, incubated them at room temperature, and determined infectivity using tissue culture infectious dose 50 (TCID50) titration endpoint.
After a 5-minute incubation with the herbal substances, they found that chokeberry juice decreased infectivity nearly 3,000 times compared to a control with just a swab. Elderberry juice, pomegranate juice, and green tea decreased infectivity by about tenfold. An increase in the incubation time to 20 min increased activity only marginally, indicating that antiviral activity is rapid. This suggests that herbal extracts are generally active against enveloped viruses.
When the researchers tested for swine flu virus (IAV) and SARS-CoV-2, they found that the four plant substances inactivated more than 99% of the IAV after 5 minutes.
Aronia juice inactivated about 97% of SARS-CoV-2 after 5 minutes, while green tea and pomegranate juice inactivated about 80% of the virus. Elderberry juice had no effect on SARS-CoV-2. The naked Adv 5, used as a control, was resistant to all but aronia juice.
IAV was the most susceptible to food products, which exhibited virucidal activity similar to that of typical disinfectants, indicating the low resistance of this family of viruses, also representative of other influenza strains.
SARS-CoV-2 was more resistant, although chokeberry juice was quite effective, with pomegranate juice and green tea also reducing the amount of the virus.
Oral rinse with tea and juice
The activity of herbal products could be due to their acidic pH, which can directly inactivate viruses, or to the presence of polyphenols such as catechins, tannins and flavonoids, which can affect viral proteins.
For example, polyphenols in pomegranates have been shown to inhibit the influenza virus by affecting surface glycoproteins and damaging structural proteins. Catechins, found in green tea, can affect both viral particles and their binding to host cells. Computer simulations have suggested that theaflavins could prevent SARS-CoV-2 infection by binding to the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), the receptor that binds to SARS-CoV-2.
For respiratory viruses, as infection and transmission occur through the nose and throat, early reduction of viral loads can be an effective strategy to reduce and prevent spread.
For example, herbal products, such as those discussed, are commonly available and are used as food. They could be used as “oral rinses”. Unlike antiseptic oral rinses which contain membrane damaging agents, these juices and teas can be used more frequently without any negative effects and can simply be ingested.
Studies have shown that gargling with tea, tea extracts or plant juices can reduce flu infections and viral symptoms. Likewise, aronia or pomegranate juices could be used against SARS-CoV-2, in addition to teas.
Continuing to gargle and rinse the mouth with juice and tea followed by swallowing could be an effective preventive strategy for SARS-CoV-2, the authors write, particularly for people at high risk of infection, healthcare professionals and the elderly. Ingesting the “mouth rinse” is also practical in situations such as planes, trains and schools, as well as being healthy in general.
Although the amounts of the different antiviral compounds in natural products may vary with different batches of products, natural products with their blend of compounds can be a powerful method of curbing viral infections and further clinical investigation is needed.
*Important Notice
bioRxiv publishes preliminary scientific reports that are not peer-reviewed and, therefore, should not be considered conclusive, guide clinical practice / health-related behaviors, or treated as consolidated information.
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