AN OVERVIEW ON ROLE OF ETHNOMEDICINE IN BOOSTING HUMAN IMMUNITY TO COMBAT VARIOUS VIRAL DISEASES

Abstract

Some of the medicinal plants valued in Ayurvedic Rasayana for their therapeutic potential have seen scientifically investigated with promising results. Several plant-based principles have been isolated with a potential immunomod- ulatory activity that can explain and justify their use in traditional medicine in the past and can form the basis for further research in the future as well. Hence, the present review of the literature study was planned to document common and easily accessible functional food plants that can modulate the immune system and are biologically active against several medical problems arising from respiratory tract infections and in addition this review will serve as a guideline to the general public to include important medicinal food plants in their daily diet for strength- ening and improving their immune system and overall health. Based on the knowledge from this review of the literature study we hypothesize that plants may help individuals to overcome the infection by (i) modulating the body's immune system (ii) generating antiviral activity against the infection (iii) reducing other respiratory prob- lems. A substantial number of plant extracts and phytochemicals have been explored for their antiviral property. Herbal preparations owing to their holistic approach strengthen the body's immune system, which in turn may help the body fight against invading infectious viruses. In this review of the literature study, we documented twenty functional food plants with immunomodulatory and antiviral properties that have been reported to induce the im- mune system in several ways. These mainly include liquorice (Glycyrrhiza glabra L.), garlic (Allium sativum L.), tea (Camellia sinensis [L.] Kuntze), ginger (Zingiber officinale Roscoe), turmeric (Curcuma longa L.), pomegranate (Punica granatum L.), black pepper (Piper nigrum L.) and several others. Thus, the practice of ethnomedicine plays a pivotal role in boosting human humanity to combat various viral diseases and will also help human beings to protect against the current Covid-19 like pandemic situation. Keywords: Ethnomedicine, Immunomodulatory, Antiviral, Onion, turmeric, Zinger, Garlic, Tea, Black pepper.