A review on triterpenoids from plant sources as potential antiviral agents

Abstract

Viral infections are considered as leading a health issue globally. Numerous numbers of biologically active anti-viral agents have been identified from plants and other organisms. Particularly, terpenoids are a major component of the plant secondary metabolites and a complexity of these structures is accompanied by the potency of their biological activities. It is believed that most of the terpenoids possess the bioactivity against viral infections and cancer diseases. Hence, affected by the pressing a need elevated by the spreading of seriously life-threaten viruses, this review highlights the importance of terpenoids and their activity as antiviral agents that can be employed to treat current lethal diseases such as HIV, H1N1, SARS-CoV and HSV.