INSILICO STUDIES ON HERBAL PHYTOCONSTITUENTS FOR THE TREATMENT OF COVID-19: A REVIEW ARTICLE

The SARS-CoV2 virus, which triggered the COVID-19 pandemic, has made a major contribution to world health. This article describes the characteristics of the virus, transmission routes, signs and symptoms, and possible treatments. SARS-CoV2, a virus belonging to the Coronaviridae family, was initially identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019, and it rapidly spread across the globe. People usually transmit it through physical contact with infected people or contaminated surfaces. Symptoms can range from mild respiratory symptoms to fatal organ failure. Through clinging to the human ACE2 (angiotensin-converting enzyme II) receptor, the virus can penetrate the host cell more easily and multiply there. The study shows how important molecular docking studies are for drug development, as they can predict how potential inhibitors and viral proteins would interact. Natural products have been proposed as potential options to inhibit SARS-CoV2 because of the diversity of their structures and lower toxicity. Some substances, such as flavonoids, terpenes, alkaloids, and phenolic compounds, have demonstrated the capacity to block Mpro, the main protease of the virus, along with additional important proteins engaged in the virus's replication. The highest binding energy was found to be -11.89 kcal/mol, opposing the primary protease of SARS-CoV2. Despite the encouraging outcomes, additional clinical trials are required to verify the safety and effectiveness of the components in the COVID-19 treatment.