The New Face of Berries: A Review of Their Antiviral Proprieties

Abstract

Due to rising consumer preference for natural remedies, the search for natural antiviral agents has accelerated considerably in recent years. Among the natural sources of compounds with potential antiviral proprieties, berries are interesting candidates, due to their association with health-promoting properties, including antioxidant, antimutagenic, anticancer, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, and neuroprotective properties. The past two decades have witnessed a flurry of new findings. Studies suggest promising antiviral proprieties against enveloped and non-enveloped viruses, particularly of cranberries, blueberries, blackcurrants, black raspberries, and pomegranates. The aim of this review is to assemble these findings, to list the implied mechanisms of action, and thereby point out promising subjects for research in this field, in the hope that compounds obtainable from natural sources such as berries may be used someday to treat, or even prevent, viral infections.

Antiviral and Antibacterial Effect of Honey Enriched with Rubus spp. as a Functional Food with Enhanced Antioxidant Properties

“…These proprieties depend strongly on the composition of the berry tested, and on the type of virus targeted. The variety of phytochemicals in berries makes them very interesting as sources of antiviral compounds [ 58 ]. On the other hand, honey enriched with higher content of Rubus fruits (4%) exhibited 3–4 times higher antioxidant potential and phenolic content, which is also observed in the greater antiviral potential of these honey samples.…”

Tackling the Future Pandemics: Broad-Spectrum Antiviral Agents (BSAAs) Based on A-Type Proanthocyanidins

“…Accordingly, natural extracts of fruits, such as grapes and berries, have been tested extensively against enteric viruses to identify antiviral activities that may be exploited to develop new preventive or therapeutic agents, and thus to alleviate the burden of foodborne gastrointestinal viral diseases [ 223 ]. However, only for a few enteric viruses A-type PACs were observed to reproduce the antiviral activity of fruit extracts in which they have been characterized [ 191 , 224 ].…”

“…Even though implementation of rotavirus vaccination, as part of the routine childhood immunization program, proved to be effective in reducing AGE in countries where vaccines are used routinely, millions of children in several high-burden countries still lack access to rotavirus vaccine. Therefore, in the absence of effective control measures or treatment strategies, food extracts and juices endowed with anti-rotavirus activity may be of interest to control the infection and spread of AGE in those countries [ 223 ].…”

Inactivation of foodborne viruses by novel organic peroxyacid-based disinfectants

“…Monitoring, detecting and inactivating viruses should be essential activities to ensure food safety (Manuel and Jaykus, 2014). Means of inactivation are mainly physical and/or chemical, but a new category of chemicals of natural origin is gaining favor, for example extracts of berries (primarily cranberry and blueberry) or essential oils (Wiggienton and Kohn, 2012;Bernier et al, 2021). Due to their ease of use and low cost, chemical disinfectants are often the ideal choice for inactivating foodborne viruses (D'Souza and Su, 2009).…”