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

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.