Antiviral Activity of Phytochemicals: A Current Perspective

A wide variety of active phytochemicals have been found to have therapeutic ­applications against genetically and functionally diverse viruses. The antiviral mechanism of these agents may be explained on the basis of their ­antioxidant activities, scavenging capacities, the inhibition of DNA, RNA synthesis, or the blocking of viral reproduction, etc. Numerous epidemiological and experimental studies have revealed that a large number of phytochemicals have promising antiviral activities. Especially in the last decade, a number of promising leads have been identified by a combination of in vitro and in vivo studies using diverse biological assays.