Skip to content
Research Article Open access CC BY 4.0

Aloe vera (L.) Burm. F. as a Potential Anti-COVID-19 Plant: A Mini-review of Its Antiviral Activity

Pius T. Mpiana, Koto-Te-Nyiwa Ngbolua, Damien S. T. Tshibangu, Jason T. Kilembe, Benjamin Z. Gbolo, Domaine T. Mwanangombo, Clément L. Inkoto, Emmanuel M. Lengbiye, Clément M. Mbadiko, Aristote Matondo, Gédéon N. Bongo, Dorothée D. Tshilanda

European Journal of Medicinal Plants · pp. 86–93 · Published 24 May 2020

10.9734/ejmp/2020/v31i830261

Abstract

Aims: A novel β-coronavirus (2019-nCoV) has become a pandemic affecting hundreds of thousands of people worldwide. Since there is no effective treatment, the need of finding alternative methods which can help to curb this pandemic is urgent. This study aims to review the literature on the virucidal and cytotoxic properties of Aloe vera, one of the most studied plants considered as a nutraceutical in order to propose it as an alternative solution against COVID-19. Methodology: The literature review was based mainly on the COVID-19 resources that have been made freely available to the scientific community but also on the usual databases such as Pubmed and Google scholar. Results: The literature review shows that the plant has antiviral activity on several types of virus (Haemorrhagic Viral Rhobdavirus Septicaemia, Herpes simplex virus type 1, Herpes simplex virus type 2, Varicella-Zoster virus, human immunodeficiency virus, Influenza virus, poliovirus, Cytomegalovirus, Human papillomavirus) including coronavirus SARS-CoV-1. The plant is consumed orally in several forms and is safe. It is possible that  molecules of this plant that have already shown effectiveness on other viruses by some mechanisms such as interaction of virus enzyme, breakdown of the viral envelope etc. could participate in the action of the plant. Also, the presence of minerals such as Zinc, which have shown an effect on SARS-CoV-1, could be involved in the antiviral effect of Aloe vera. Conclusion: Molecular docking of the main molecules of Aloe vera with SARS-CoV-2 protease is in progress and clinical trials are necessary to confirm the activity of Aloe vera on COVID-19.

Aloe vera COVID-19 antiviral activity molecular docking sars-cov-2.

Cited by 27

Potential traditional medicinal plants for COVID-19 management in Sri Lanka: A review

Dr. DVD Hemalika, RLIA Ranathunga · Journal of Medicinal Plants Studies · 2023

COVID-19 Study, Diagnostic and Therapeutic Transition

Da-Yong Lu, Ting-Ren Lu · Recent Advances in Anti-Infective Drug Discovery · 2024

SARS‐CoV‐2 and Other Pathogenic Organisms in Food and Water

Bhoirob Gogoi, Neehasri Kumar Chowdhury, Suprity Shyam · One Health · 2023

Combating COVID-19: The role of drug repurposing and medicinal plants

Shah A. Khan, K. Al-Balushi · Journal of Infection and Public Health · 2021

Identification of Natural Inhibitors Against SARS-CoV-2 Drugable Targets Using Molecular Docking, Molecular Dynamics Simulation, and MM-PBSA Approach

Prem Prakash Kushwaha, Atul Kumar Singh, Tanya Bansal · Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology · 2021

Showing 20 of 27 known citations — external sources report more than can currently be individually listed.

Article metrics

Real usage data collected on this platform.

0

Page views

0

PDF downloads

0

Outbound clicks

27

Citations

Views by country

Approximate, from request IP at view time — not citizenship or institution. Countries with fewer than 5 views are grouped as "Other".

No views recorded yet.

Traffic sources

Referring site, by host.

No traffic recorded yet.

Views and downloads exclude known bots/crawlers. Citations combines this platform's own DOI-resolved index with each external source's own reported total — see Cited by above for individually listed citing works. Last refreshed 0 seconds ago.