Tropical Food Spices: A Promising Panacea for the Novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19)

Authors

Adedayo O. Ademiluyi^1, , Olubukola H. Oyeniran^{1, 2, *,} , Ganiyu Oboh¹

¹Functional Foods, Nutraceuticals and Phytomedicine Unit, Department of Biochemistry, Federal University of Technology, Akure 340001, Nigeria

²Department of Biochemistry, Federal University Oye - Ekiti P.M.B. 373, Ekiti State, Nigeria

^*Corresponding author. Email: olubukola.oyeniran@fuoye.edu.ng; oyeniranolubukola@gmail.com

DOI

10.2991/efood.k.201022.001How to use a DOI?

Keywords

COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; respiratory infections; ACE2; spices; antivirals

Abstract

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an infectious fatal disease caused by the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) with millions of individuals infected globally within few months of its outbreak. During infection, the SARS-CoV-2 main protease binds directly to Angiotensin-converting Enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptor of the human host cells, most especially in the lungs where it replicates and causes respiratory infections. Currently, there is neither universally recommended nor approved treatment for the morbid disease caused by this virus. Therefore, the urgent need for therapy has led to the use of medicinal plants such as tropical food spices which have been previously used as antivirals. Thus, this review described the coronaviruses, the causative virus of COVID-19, the role of ACE2 in SARS-CoV-2 infection, health complications in COVID-19, the general importance of tropical spices, the potential beneficial role of tropical spices as potent inhibitors of SARS-CoV-2 and the mechanisms of action of some selected tropical spices: turmeric, onion, garlic, red chille pepper, black pepper and cinnamon; based on prior knowledge of their medicinal values. This might help to promote the use of spices and/or their isolated compounds as functional foods, nutraceuticals and potent alternative medicines to provide fast optimal relief or cure for COVID-19.

Graphical Abstract

Copyright

© 2020 The Authors. Publishing services by Atlantis Press International B.V.

Open Access

This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC 4.0 license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/).

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TY  - JOUR
AU  - Adedayo O. Ademiluyi
AU  - Olubukola H. Oyeniran
AU  - Ganiyu Oboh
PY  - 2020
DA  - 2020/10/28
TI  - Tropical Food Spices: A Promising Panacea for the Novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19)
JO  - eFood
SP  - 347
EP  - 356
VL  - 1
IS  - 5
SN  - 2666-3066
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/efood.k.201022.001
DO  - 10.2991/efood.k.201022.001
ID  - Ademiluyi2020
ER  -