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World J Exp Med. Sep 20, 2024; 14(3): 95512
Published online Sep 20, 2024. doi: 10.5493/wjem.v14.i3.95512
Phytochemical analysis of Tinospora cordifolia and Withania somnifera and their therapeutic activities with special reference to COVID-19
Prateek Rai, Tanya Garain, Deepshikha Gupta
Prateek Rai, Tanya Garain, Deepshikha Gupta, Chemistry, Amity Institute of Applied Sciences, Amity University, Noida 201301, Uttar Pradesh, India
Co-first authors: Prateek Rai and Tanya Garain.
Author contributions: Gupta D contributed to conceptualization, review, editing, and supervision; Rai P and Garain T contributed to original draft preparation, literature search, resources, and writing; All authors reviewed the successive versions of the manuscript and read and agreed to the last version of the manuscript for publication. Rai P and Garain T contributed equally in their efforts as outlined above and their collaboration was crucial to this paper’s generation and publication, and as such they merit co-first authorship.
Conflict-of-interest statement: No competing interests or conflicts to declare.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Deepshikha Gupta, BSc, MSc, PhD, Professor, Chemistry, Amity Institute of Applied Sciences, Amity University, Sector 125, Noida, State- Uttar Pradesh, Noida-India, Noida 201301, Uttar Pradesh, India. deep34.gupta@gmail.com
Received: April 11, 2024
Revised: July 19, 2024
Accepted: July 29, 2024
Published online: September 20, 2024
Processing time: 139 Days and 14.3 Hours
Abstract

Various important medicines make use of secondary metabolites that are produced by plants. Medicinal plants, such as Withania somnifera and Tinospora cordifolia, are rich sources of chemically active compounds and are reported to have numerous therapeutic applications. The therapeutic use of medicinal plants is widely mentioned in Ayurveda and has folkloric importance in different parts of the world. The aim of this review is to summarize the phytochemical profiles, folkloric importance, and primary pharmacological activity of W. somnifera and T. cordifolia with emphasis on their action against the novel coronavirus.

Keywords: Phytochemical analysis; Tinospora cordifolia; Withania somnifera; COVID-19; Immunomodulators; Giloy; Ashwagandha

Core Tip: This review provides insights into the phytochemical profiles and therapeutic activities of Tinospora cordifolia and Withania somnifera, which are medicinally significant plants of great importance in the practice of traditional medicine. Currently, the potential of these plants as antiviral agents against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV), particularly SARS-CoV-2, is of interest.