Plant Secondary Metabolites of Antiviral Properties a Rich Medicinal Source for Drug Discovery: A Mini Review

Abstract

Plants possess a unique defense mechanism unlike humans and animals that protects them from harmful microorganism to herbivores by secreting low molecular weight compounds called secondary metabolites. The compounds are concentrated in essential oil of the plants and its medicinal properties cure human illnesses too. Some of those plants still being used in traditional medicine by human, ever since civilized using plants as medicine. The ancient civilizations India, China and Europe only used plants as medicine. The emergence and enormous growth of allopathic medicine in the 19th century caused the downfall of the traditional medicine system. Now in the 21st century the scenario changed, the scientists trying to rediscover the ancient medicine through science to cure deadly diseases. In this review we focused on the researches that determined the antiviral properties of plant secondary metabolites for the development of drugs. Keywords: Secondary metabolites, Antiviral properties, Alkaloids, Phenols, Viral diseases, Medicinal plants