Nanoemulsions: the rising star of antiviral therapeutics and nano-delivery system - current status and prospects.

Nanoemulsions (NEs) of essential oil (EO) have significant potential to target microorganisms, especially viruses. They act as a vehicle for delivering antiviral drugs and vaccines. Narrowing of drug discovery pipeline and the emergence of new viral diseases, especially, COVID-19 have created a niche to use nanoemulsions (NEs) for augmenting currently available therapeutic options. Published literature demonstrated that EOs have an inherent broad spectrum of activity across bacterial, fungal, and viral pathogens. The emulsification process significantly improved the efficacy of the active ingredients in the EOs. This article highlights the research findings and patent developments in the last two years especially, in EO antiviral activity, antiviral drug delivery, vaccine delivery, viral resistance development, and repurposing EO compounds against SARS-CoV2.