Prophylaxis and treatment aspect of COVID-19 with the use of Indian traditional plant-based medicine: A hypothetical review

HCoV (human coronavirus) is a retrovirus containing an enveloped virus belongs to Coronaviridae family. Coronavirus (CoV) family is composed of numerous viral strains and responsible for the cause of common cold, breathing problem, and fever. The chronic CoV infection may cause pneumonia and severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) in human beings. The known strains of HCoV are HCoV-OC-43, -229E, and -HKU1. The more extensively known strain is SARS-CoV which caused a worldwide threat with the sky-scraping number of deaths with high mortality rate in 2003. In the year of 2012, the World Health Organization (WHO) nominated a sixth type of HCoV infection recognized as Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) which affected Middle East region of the world and showed a high fatality rate. In a similar way, currently coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) has been pandemic and fatal worldwide, which has been originated at China during December 2019. At present, there is no vaccine or treatment to cure COVID-19 infection. In such a time, the pharmaceuticals should promote and encourage natural product drug discovery programs. They should inspire the academic organizations to perform committed research activities to develop natural and alternative therapeutics. Till the date numbers of Indian traditional plants have been reported showing their antiviral potential, immunemodulating potential, and respiroprotective effects. In this review, such kinds of potent antiviral traditional plants are listed and described in very detailed manner along with their active phytoconstituents as well as mechanism of actions. In the current pandemic situation of COVID-19, these traditional plants can be a rich source to develop and design novel natural medicines, therapies, or vaccines against HCoV-2.