Herbal medicines as potential inhibitors of SARS-CoV-2 infection

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is the result of infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Understanding molecular pathogenesis is an essential factor for the allocation of effective preventive measures and the development of targeted therapeutics against COVID-19. The genome of SARS-CoV-2 encodes structural and nonstructural proteins, which can be targets for compounds with potential therapeutic ability. On the other hand, the virus life cycle has stages susceptible to targeting by drug compounds. Many natural antiviral compounds have been studied and evaluated at the cellular and molecular levels with antiviral potential. Meanwhile, many studies over the past few months have shown that plant polysaccharides have good ability to target proteins and stages of the virus life cycle. In this regard, in this review study, the virus specifications and infectious process and structural and functional components of SARS-CoV-2 will be reviewed, and then the latest studies on the effect of plant compounds with more focus on polysaccharides on viral targets and their inhibitory potential on the infectious process of COVID-19 will be discussed. Keywords: Alkaloids; COVID-19; Herbal medicines; Polyphenols; Polysaccharides; SARS-CoV-2; Terpene