They are used in Chinese folk medicine
Chinese scientists led by Prof. Ding Kang of the Shanghai Institute of Pharmacology have discovered that clove tree flowers contain two types of complex carbohydrates that can block the activity of the Mpro protein, one of the three key viral enzymes needed to form new particles. SARS-CoV-2 virus, TASS reported. The results of the study are published in an article in the electronic library bioRxiv, BTA writes.
“We have found that the colors of the carnation species used in Chinese folk medicine contain molecules of hitherto unknown variants of pectin, which are unusually effective in the reproduction of SARS-CoV-2. Unlike other carbohydrates we have found. substances directly affect the enzyme Mpro and do not prevent the virus from entering the cells, “the article reads.
According to scientists, the enzyme Mpro hardly changes during the evolution of the new coronavirus, which makes clove pectins a particularly suitable means of combating COVID-19.
