Pampa biome plant extracts and flavonoids show antiviral activity against Bovine Herpesvirus and Bovine Viral Diarrhea Virus.
da Fonseca RN, de Andrade Lourenço D, Zandoná GP, Bortolatto CF, Brüning CA
Medicinal Plants
The Brazilian pepper tree choking out native habitat along Florida's coasts and Gulf marshes turns out to harbor compounds powerful enough to disable cattle viruses — a reminder that even plants we're racing to eradicate carry medicinal chemistry worth understanding before they're gone.
Scientists tested leaf and bark extracts from three plants native to South American grasslands and found they can stop cattle viruses cold. The active ingredients are flavonoids — the same family of natural chemicals found in apples, onions, and green tea — which appear to work by physically grabbing onto viral proteins and by nudging animal cells to raise their own immune defenses. This suggests that plants long used in traditional South American herbalism may hold real promise as natural antivirals for livestock.
Key Findings
5 of 6 plant extracts showed direct virus-killing activity against both Bovine Herpesvirus type 1 and Bovine Viral Diarrhea Virus in lab tests
17 phenolic compounds were identified; quercetin, kaempferol, and tiliroside each showed distinct antiviral profiles, with molecular docking scores ≤ −7 kcal/mol indicating strong binding to viral target proteins
All three flavonoids altered expression of immune-signaling genes (IFNα, IFNβ, ISG15) in infected cells, pointing to a dual mechanism: direct virus neutralization plus boosting the cell's own antiviral alarm system
chevron_right Technical Summary
Researchers tested extracts from three native South American grassland plants and found that five of six extracts could directly neutralize cattle viruses, with specific flavonoids — quercetin, kaempferol, and tiliroside — fighting infection both by disabling viral particles and by switching on immune defense genes in animal cells.
Abstract Preview
The antiviral, virucidal, and antioxidant activities of extracts from three plants of the Brazilian Pampa biome (Mimosa bimucronata, Luehea divaricata, and Schinus terebinthifolia), as well as the ...
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