Study: Green tea, dark chocolate may fight against COVID-19 virus

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. "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," said study author De-Yu Xie from the North Carolina State University in the US.

"One of our 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," Xie added.

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 several different plant chemical compounds already known for their potent anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties.

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