A Review on Analytical Methods for Antiviral Phytoconstituents

Viral infections are spreading to a great extent worldwide and affecting many people. The existing and emerging viral infections are a threat to human beings. Combating against these viral infections is a challenge with the available few antiviral drugs. Though new Antiviral drugs are being approved by the FDA every year, controlling emerging viral infections is a global concern. The currently available drugs and vaccines for the treatment of existing viral infections have limitations. From ancient times, herbs played a significant role in treating viral disorders by developing immunity towards viral infections. Some more herbs with their antipyretic and analgesic activity helped in treating fever and body aches resulted of viral infections. Antiviral phytoconstituents like alkaloids, glycosides, flavonoids, terpenoids, polyphenols, coumarins and saponins of plants have been isolated from plants and studied for their antiviral effects by researchers. Some of the phytochemicals are even developed as formulations and marketed to treat viral infections. Quality control of phytochemicals and herbal formulations is necessary for assuring therapeutic efficacy, quality and safety of these preparations. Hence, various standardization methods are developed for ensuring the quality of herbal products. The current review encompasses the RP- HPLC, LC-MS, GC-MS and HPTLC methods available for the Single and concurrent estimation of different antiviral phytoconstituents.