Coronavirus: Food that can inhibit COVID-19, according to a study

While the novel coronavirus continues to disrupt the lives of people, new researches are being done everyday to contain the deadly virus.

In a yet another interesting research by the Institute of Molecular Virology, Ulm University Medical Center, Technische Universität Dresden and CogniVerde GmbH it was found that green tea, cranberry juice and pomegranate juice have the potential to kill the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

The study found out that these juices and teas were able to prevent the spread of the infection in cells in vitro.

The study

For the study, scientists mixed the herbal substances with viruses, including influenza A virus, adenovirus type 5 and SARS-CoV-2 and incubated them at room temperature and determined infectivity.

The findings

It was found that the chokeberry juice decreases the infectivity by almost 3,000 times. While pomegranate juice, green tea and elderberry juice, reduced the infectivity by around 10 times.
The scientists also tested the swine flu virus and its interaction with herbal substances. They found that all the four herbal juices inactivate more than 99 per cent of the virus in under 5 minutes.
It was noted that chokeberry juice inactivates around 97 per cent of the SARS-CoV-2 after 5 minutes, while pomegranate juice and green tea inactivated around 80 per cent of the virus. The elderberry juice had no effect on the SARS-CoV-2.

The researchers also found out that the SARS-CoV-2 was more resistant to any other pathogen, though chokeberry juice was quite useful. Pomegranate juice and green tea also helped in reducing the effect of the virus.

What you can do?

The authors of the study suggested that gargling and rinsing your mouth with these teas and juices followed by the consumption of it can be an easy and effective strategy to prevent SARS-CoV-2, especially in people with high risk.

Nov 11, 2020

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