Background:

Up to date drug-based treatments for COVID-19 have not been approved. The most effective way to face this public health problem is prevention with adequate nutrition, hygiene, and protection measures. Food has historically been used by people to improve their nutrition and complement the treatment or prevention of diseases. The various bioactive compounds of some foods are known, which in experimental studies demonstrated their antiviral and immunomodulatory action.

Objective:

To identify bioactive compounds of foods or food preparations with potential immunomodulatory, immunostimulatory, and antiviral effects against coronavirus.

Material and Methods:

A search was carried out in Google Scholar, Scopus, and Virtual Health Library on Traditional Complementary and Integrative Medicine using the terms food, immunomodulatory, immunostimulatory, and antiviral in four successive searches.

Results:

93 articles were obtained, and further evidence of antiviral and immunological effect against coronavirus was identified on nine foods: Allium sativum, Cinnamomum zeylanicum, Citrus sinensis, Zingiber officinale, Vitis vinifera, Allium cepa, Curcuma longa, Punica granatum, and Sambucus nigra. The first four of them showed activity against SARS-CoV-2.

Conclusions:

The immunological and antiviral effect against coronavirus of nine foods was evidenced; however, they are in silico and in vitro studies, therefore it is required further preclinical and clinical research to confirm this.

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