Antiviral activity of plant juices and green tea against SARS-CoV-2 and influenza virus in vitro

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Abstract

Many plant juices, extracts and teas have been shown to possess antiviral activity. We here analyzed the virucidal activity of black chokeberry (Aronia melanocarpa), pomegranate (Punica granatum), and elderberry (Sambucus nigra) juice, as well as green tea (Camellia sinensis) against different respiratory viruses. We found that all tested plant derived products effectively inactivated influenza virus, whereas only chokeberry juice diminished SARS-CoV-2 and vaccinia virus infectivity. None of the products inactivated non-enveloped human adenovirus type 5. Thus, black chokeberry juice exerts virucidal activity against different enveloped viral pathogens under in vitro conditions. Whether application of virucidal juices or green tea as oral rinses may lower viral loads in the oral cavity in vivo remains to be evaluated.

Article activity feed

  1. SciScore for 10.1101/2020.10.30.360545: (What is this?)

    Please note, not all rigor criteria are appropriate for all manuscripts.

    Table 1: Rigor

    Institutional Review Board Statementnot detected.
    Randomizationnot detected.
    Blindingnot detected.
    Power Analysisnot detected.
    Sex as a biological variablenot detected.
    Cell Line Authenticationnot detected.

    Table 2: Resources

    Experimental Models: Cell Lines
    SentencesResources
    Madin Darby canine kidney cells (MDCK) and A549 (adenocarcinomic human alveolar basal epithelial) cells were grown in minimal essential medium with Earle’s salts (EMEM; Biochrom AG, Berlin, Germany) supplemented with 1% non-essential aminoacids (Biochrom AG, Berlin, Germany), 10% FCS.
    MDCK
    suggested: None
    Modified vaccinia virus Ankara (provided from the Institute of Animal Hygiene and Veterinary Public Health of the University Leipzig) was passaged on BHK-21 cells (provided by Friedrich Löffler institute), influenza A virus A/H1N1/Brisbane/59/2007 (Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics GmbH & Co.
    BHK-21
    suggested: None
    KG) on MDCK cells (ATCC), adenovirus type 5, strain adenoid 75 (kindly provided by Prof. Sauerbrei, University of Jena, Jena, Germany) on A549 cells (ATCC) and SARS-CoV-2 BetaCoV/France/IDF0372/2020 (obtained through European Virus Archive global) on Vero E6 cells (ATCC).
    A549
    suggested: None
    Vero E6
    suggested: RRID:CVCL_XD71)

    Results from OddPub: We did not detect open data. We also did not detect open code. Researchers are encouraged to share open data when possible (see Nature blog).


    Results from LimitationRecognizer: An explicit section about the limitations of the techniques employed in this study was not found. We encourage authors to address study limitations.

    Results from TrialIdentifier: No clinical trial numbers were referenced.


    Results from Barzooka: We did not find any issues relating to the usage of bar graphs.


    Results from JetFighter: We did not find any issues relating to colormaps.


    Results from rtransparent:
    • Thank you for including a conflict of interest statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
    • No funding statement was detected.
    • No protocol registration statement was detected.

    About SciScore

    SciScore is an automated tool that is designed to assist expert reviewers by finding and presenting formulaic information scattered throughout a paper in a standard, easy to digest format. SciScore checks for the presence and correctness of RRIDs (research resource identifiers), and for rigor criteria such as sex and investigator blinding. For details on the theoretical underpinning of rigor criteria and the tools shown here, including references cited, please follow this link.

  2. SciScore for 10.1101/2020.10.30.360545: (What is this?)

    Please note, not all rigor criteria are appropriate for all manuscripts.

    Table 1: Rigor

    Institutional Review Board Statementnot detected.Randomizationnot detected.Blindingnot detected.Power Analysisnot detected.Sex as a biological variablenot detected.Cell Line Authenticationnot detected.

    Table 2: Resources

    Experimental Models: Cell Lines
    SentencesResources
    Madin Darby canine kidney cells (MDCK) and A549 (adenocarcinomic human alveolar basal epithelial) cells were grown in minimal essential medium with Earle’s salts (EMEM; Biochrom AG, Berlin, Germany) supplemented with 1% non-essential aminoacids (Biochrom AG, Berlin, Germany), 10% FCS.
    MDCK
    suggested: None
    Modified vaccinia virus Ankara (provided from the Institute of Animal Hygiene and Veterinary Public Health of the University Leipzig) was passaged on BHK-21 cells (provided by Friedrich Löffler institute), influenza A virus A/H1N1/Brisbane/59/2007 (Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics GmbH & Co.
    BHK-21
    suggested: None
    KG) on MDCK cells (ATCC), adenovirus type 5, strain adenoid 75 (kindly provided by Prof. Sauerbrei, University of Jena, Jena, Germany) on A549 cells (ATCC) and SARS-CoV-2 BetaCoV/France/IDF0372/2020 (obtained through European Virus Archive global) on Vero E6 cells (ATCC).
    A549
    suggested: None
    Vero E6
    suggested: RRID:CVCL_XD71)

    Results from OddPub: We did not detect open data. We also did not detect open code. Researchers are encouraged to share open data when possible (see Nature blog).


    Results from LimitationRecognizer: An explicit section about the limitations of the techniques employed in this study was not found. We encourage authors to address study limitations.


    Results from TrialIdentifier: No clinical trial numbers were referenced.


    Results from Barzooka: We found bar graphs of continuous data. We recommend replacing bar graphs with more informative graphics, as many different datasets can lead to the same bar graph. The actual data may suggest different conclusions from the summary statistics. For more information, please see Weissgerber et al (2015).


    Results from JetFighter: We did not find any issues relating to colormaps.


    About SciScore

    SciScore is an automated tool that is designed to assist expert reviewers by finding and presenting formulaic information scattered throughout a paper in a standard, easy to digest format. SciScore checks for the presence and correctness of RRIDs (research resource identifiers), and for rigor criteria such as sex and investigator blinding. For details on the theoretical underpinning of rigor criteria and the tools shown here, including references cited, please follow this link.