Researchers from the IIT Mandi and The International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB) have found that the petals of a commonly available plant Himalayan ‘Buransh’ (rhododendron arboreum) could potentially be used to treat COVID-19 infections.
The local population consumes the petals in various forms for their varied health benefits. While the leaves are toxic for consumption, the petals are as condiments. It is also sold as squash that is meant to be a coolant during summers.
Dr Shyam Kumar Masakapalli, IIT Mandi, said that hot water extracts from the Buransh petals were found to be rich in quinic acid and its derivatives. “Molecular dynamics studies showed that these phytochemicals have two kinds of effects against the virus.
They bound to the main protease – an enzyme that plays an important role in viral replication — and to the Human Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme-2 (ACE2) that mediates viral entry into the host cells”.
The team from IIT Mandi and ICGEB, New Delhi, set out to scientifically test the extracts containing different phytochemicals (compounds produced by plants), focusing on the anti-viral activity. It extracted the phytochemicals from the Buransh petals and performed biochemical assays and computational simulation studies to understand their anti-viral properties.
Masakapalli said that the cells derived from the monkey liver were first allowed to be attacked by the COVID-19 virus, following which some cells died and the virus multiplied. But upon adding the plant-derived compound (in different quantities), the viral load came down and virus impact was inhibited by up to 80%.
Dr Sujatha Sunil, Vector Borne Disease Group, ICGEB, said, “A combination of the phytochemical profiling, computer simulations and in vitro anti-viral assays showed that the extracts from the Buransh petals inhibited the replication of the COVID-19 virus in a dose-dependent manner.”
The team’s findings have been recently published in the Biomolecular Structure and Dynamics journal.