Traditional Medicinal Plants as Sources of Broad-Spectrum Antiviral Agents Against Poultry Viral Infections: A Review

Dutta, Rimee and Ayyagari, Vijaya Sai (2026) Traditional Medicinal Plants as Sources of Broad-Spectrum Antiviral Agents Against Poultry Viral Infections: A Review. World's Veterinary Journal. 678 - 692. ISSN 23224568

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Abstract

Across Asia, poultry farming plays a critical role in ensuring food security and supporting rural communities, delivering affordable protein to billions of people. Sustainable poultry production in Asia, especially in India, has been consistently affected by viral diseases. Conventional interventions, including vaccination and biosecurity protocols, often remain inadequate against viral infections, require specific storage conditions, elicit suboptimal immune responses, and pose economic challenges and limitations. In poultry, synthetic antiviral medications are often unsuitable due to their high cost, adverse effects, and concerns about residual compounds. Plant-based remedies emerge not as direct replacements but as valuable alternatives to consider for developing broad-spectrum antiviral solutions. The present study aimed to evaluate the antiviral potential of South Asian ethnomedicinal plants against Newcastle disease virus, infectious bursal disease virus, infectious bronchitis virus, and fowl adenovirus. Compounds such as flavonoids, terpenoids, alkaloids, saponins, and lignans were targeted for their multitarget activities, including inhibition of viral entry and polymerases, immunomodulation, and antioxidant properties. Different studies on Glycyrrhiza glabra, Tephrosia purpurea, Cyperus rotundus, Tribulus terrestris, Boerhavia diffusa, Azadirachta indica, Andrographis paniculata, and Ocimum sanctum reported promising therapeutic potential against poultry viral diseases. Available in vitro studies demonstrated strong antiviral activity across multiple phytochemical classes. Nevertheless, in vivo validation and implementation at the field level remain substantially limited. The current findings confirmed the strong potential of ethnomedicinal plants as sustainable, multi-target antivirals for poultry health. © The Author(s) 2026. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article�s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article�s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Item Type:	Article
Keywords:	Flavonoid; Fowl adenovirus; Infectious bronchitis virus; Infectious bursal disease virus; Saponin; Terpenoid
Subjects:	S Agriculture > SF Animal culture
Divisions:	World's Veterinary Journal (WVJ)
Page Range:	678 - 692
Journal or Publication Title:	World's Veterinary Journal
Journal Index:	Scopus
Volume:	16
Number:	2
Publisher:	Scienceline Publication
Identification Number:	https://doi.org/10.54203/scil.2026.wvj65
ISSN:	23224568
Depositing User:	Dr. Alireza Sadeghi
URI:	https://eprints.science-line.com/id/eprint/1704

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