In vitro antiviral activity of plant extracts against equine herpes virus-1

The present study was conducted to evaluate the effect of extracts of selected medicinal plants against EHV-1. Different parts of plant viz. leaves and stem bark of Moringa oleifera (sahinjan), leaves, stem bark and fruit of Holarrhena antidysenterica (kurchi) and flower buds of Synzium aromaticum (clove) were extracted in soxhlet apparatus using water and ethanol (95%) separately to obtain aqueous and alcoholic extracts, respectively. The oil from clove was obtained by the steam distillation of dried flower buds of clove. The extracts were tested for their antiviral activity against EHV-1 virus. The per cent yield of various extracts ranged from 4.0 to 12.0%. The extracts of Synzium aromaticum showed potent antiviral activity against EHV-1 and the extract could inhibit the cytopathic effect of the virus up to the concentration of 104 TCID50/ml. The alcoholic extracts of Moringa oleifera and Holarrhena antidysenterica parts were observed to have antiviral activity upto 101 to 102 TCID50/ml of virus. However, their respective aqueous extracts showed no antiviral activity.