An Insight into the Antiviral Potential of African Medicinal Plants: Prosopis africana and Others Against Enteroviral Infections

Abstract

Increasing viral infections and rising drug resistance underscore the urgent need for new antiviral agents. This study evaluates the antiviral potential of extracts from Detarium microcarpum (stem bark), Prosopis africana (whole fruit, stem bark, and root bark), Parinari polyandra (stem bark), and Phyllanthus muellerianus (stem bark) against echoviruses E7 and E19. Plant materials were extracted via maceration using aqueous methanol (30:70) and assessed through cell culture-based assays. The virus titer (TCID₅₀) was determined to be 10⁻⁶ for both viruses, with 100 TCID₅₀ employed for antiviral screening. Cytotoxicity (CC₅₀) and maximum non-toxic concentrations (MNTC) were determined using the MTT assay. Among the tested extracts, Prosopis africana root (PAR) exhibited the strongest antiviral activity, with IC₅₀ values of 0.073 μg/mL for E19 and 1.70 μg/mL for E7, coupled with high selectivity (SI = 90.96). Moderate activity was observed in the fruit extract of Prosopis africana (PAF) and the stem bark of Parinari polyandra (PPS), while Detarium microcarpum and Phyllanthus muellerianus showed limited or no efficacy. These findings reveal untapped antiviral potential in African medicinal flora and identify Prosopis africana as a promising candidate for further investigation and development of plant-based antiviral therapies.

Keywords: Prosopis africana, antiviral activity, echovirus, cell culture, cytotoxicity, root extracts.