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Green tea, dark chocolate, grapes may help you fight the COVID-19 virus

Green tea, dark chocolate, grapes may help you fight the COVID-19 virus
अधिक चॉकलेट खाने से आपको नींद से जुड़ी समस्या हो सकती है।

A new study says that chemical compounds in foods or beverages like green tea, muscadine grapes and dark chocolate can help fight COVID-19.

Written by Jahnavi Sarma |Updated : December 2, 2020 9:42 AM IST

The COVID-19 pandemic has raged on for a year now and with positive news coming in from vaccine development companies, things are looking up after many months of despair. At the same time, scientists are leaving no stones unturned to arrive at a cure for the disease and they are looking at all possibilities from traditional medicine to natural remedies. Recently, American researchers looked into phytochemicals to see if some foods can be used to fight the novel coronavirus and prevent it. Phytochemicals are basically non-nutritive components present in a plant-based diet. These are known to have disease-preventing properties and have been used in the treatment of diseases like heart disease, cancer, hypertension and diabetes to name a few.

Now, in a unique study, researchers have claimed that chemical compounds in foods or beverages like green tea, muscadine grapes and dark chocolate can bind to and block the function of a particular enzyme, or protease, in the SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for COVID-19. According to researchers from the North Carolina State University in the US, proteases are important to the health and viability of cells and viruses. If proteases are inhibited, cells cannot perform many important functions - like replication, for example. They say that one of their lab's focuses is to find nutraceuticals in food or medicinal plants that inhibit either how a virus attaches to human cells or the propagation of a virus in human cells.

Plant chemicals have rich anti-inflammatory, antioxidant properties

In the study, published in the journal Frontiers in Plant Science, the research team performed both computer simulations and lab studies showing how the so-called "main protease" (Mpro) in the SARS-CoV-2 virus reacted when confronted with a number of different plant chemical compounds already known for their potent anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. Mpro in SARS-CoV-2 is required for the virus to replicate and assemble itself. If we can inhibit or deactivate this protease, the virus will die.

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Chemical compounds dark chocolate helps inhibit virus

Computer simulations showed that the studied chemical compounds from green tea, two varieties of muscadine grapes, cacao powder and dark chocolate were able to bind to different portions of Mpro. Mpro has a portion that is like a 'pocket' that was 'filled' by the chemical compounds. When this pocket was filled, the protease lost its important function. Lab experiments also showed similar results. The chemical compounds in green tea and muscadine grapes were very successful at inhibiting Mpro's function; chemical compounds in cacao powder and dark chocolate reduced Mpro activity by about half.

Skin and seeds of muscadine grapes beneficial too

Green tea has five tested chemical compounds that bind to different sites in the pocket on Mpro, essentially overwhelming it to inhibit its function. Muscadine grapes contain these inhibitory chemicals in their skins and seeds. Plants use these compounds to protect themselves, so it is not surprising that plant leaves and skins contain these beneficial compounds.

(With inputs from IANS)