Journal of Functional Foods (Oct 2022)

Development of propolis and essential oils containing oral/throat spray formulation against SARS-CoV-2 infection

  • Ebru Pelvan,
  • Müge Serhatlı,
  • Öznur Karaoğlu,
  • Bülent Karadeniz,
  • Ceyda Pembeci Kodolbaş,
  • Neşe Aslı Öncü,
  • Gamze Çakırca,
  • Emel Damarlı,
  • Günay Başdoğan,
  • Gizem Mergen Duymaz,
  • İsmail Emir Akyıldız,
  • Gamze Düz,
  • Sezer Acar,
  • Yağmur Özhan,
  • Hande Sipahi,
  • Mohammad Charehsaz,
  • Ahmet Aydın,
  • Erdem Yesilada,
  • Cesarettin Alasalvar

Journal volume & issue
Vol. 97
p. 105225

Abstract

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A broad range of evidence has confirmed that natural products and essential oils might have the potential to suppress COVID-19 infection. Therefore, this study aimed to develop an oral/throat spray formulation for prophylactic use in the oral cavity or help treatment modalities. Based on a reference survey, several essential oils, a cold-pressed oil, and propolis were selected, and cytotoxicity and antiviral activity of each component and the developed spray formulation were examined against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection using Vero E6 cells. Anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, and analgesic activities as well as mutagenicity and anti-mutagenicity of the formulation were analysed. Forty-three phenolics were identified in both propolis extract and oral/throat spray. The spray with 1:640-fold dilution provided the highest efficacy and the cytopathic effect was delayed for 54 h at this dilution, and the antiviral activity rate was 85.3%. A combination of natural products with essential oils at the right concentrations can be used as a supplement for the prevention of SARS-CoV-2 infection.

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