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Aloe vera (L.) Burm.f. is nicknamed the ‘Miracle plant’ or sometimes as the ‘Wonder plant’. It is a plant that has been used since ancient times for the innumerable health benefits associated with it. It is one of the important plants that has its use in conventional medicinal treatments. It is a perennial succulent, drought-tolerant member of the family Asphodelaceae. There are scores of properties associated with the plant that help in curing various forms of human ailments. Extracts and gels obtained from plants have been shown to be wonderful healers of different conditions, mainly various skin problems. Also, this plant is popular in the cosmetics industry. The underlying properties of the plant are now mainly associated with the natural phytochemicals present in the plant. Diverse groups of phytoingredients are found in the plant, including various phenolics, amino acids, sugars, vitamins, and different other organic compounds, too. One of the primary ingredients found in the plant is the aloin molecule. It is an anthraquinone derivative and exists as an isomer of Aloin A and Aloin B. Barbaloin belonging to the first group is a glucoside of the aloe-emodin anthrone molecule. Various types of pharmacological properties exhibited by the plant can be attributed to this chemical. Few significant ones are antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-diabetic, anti-cancer, anti-microbial, and anti-viral, along with their different immunity-boosting actions. Recently, molecular coupling studies have also found the role of these molecules as a potential cure against the ongoing COVID-19 disease. This study comprehensively focuses on the numerous pharmacological actions of the primary compound barbaloin obtained from the Aloe vera plant along with the mechanism of action and the potent application of these natural molecules under various conditions.

Endophyte is a broad term for microorganisms that colonize asymptomatically inside the healthy tissue of a host plant and maintain mutualistic association for the whole or part of their lifecycle. Many reports are found in the current literature on endophyte-mediated secondary metabolite production in diverse plant species. Piper is a genus belonging to family Piperaceae; it is commonly known as “Paan” and is cultivated extensively in Sri Lanka, India, Thailand, Taiwan, and other Southeast Asian countries. The parts of Piper utilized are leaves, roots, stems, stalks, and fruits. The plant has a large number of biomolecules that show diverse pharmacological activity. The leaves of Piper possess bioactivities with antitumor, antimutagenic, and antihelminthic properties. Piperine and piperidine are two such alkaloids found as the active compounds in the Piper. Few endophytes producing these compounds in Piper as secondary metabolites are reported and detailed in some existing literature. Further investigation needs to be undertaken for the identification of more such piperidine and piperine-producing fungi and survey on any bacterial endophytes. A survey of more such endophytes can assist in the commercial enrichment of these bioactive molecules and can limit the overuse of respective medicinal plant materials. The present review focuses on the utilization, extraction, and shortcomings of endophyte-mediated natural product biosynthesis in the major genera of Piper with a note on future perspectives.

Endophyte is a broad term covering a variety of microscopic organisms found within the living plant cells. Commonly they are different types of fungi and bacteria engaged in interactions with the plant host varying from symbiotic to pathogenic at various instances. Secondary metabolites are the diverse array of organic compounds produced by the plants or at times by some associated microorganisms essentially involved in a variety of defense-related activities of the plants. Several plant species have been reported with endophyte-mediated secondary metabolite production. A detailed examination and study of such secondary metabolites produced by the endophytic colonizers is helping to stress the medicinal properties of such products and ultimately to focus on unlocking new drug molecules. Asiaticoside and madecassoside are two such triterpenoid molecules of plant-origin found as the active compounds chiefly in the plant Centella asiatica. Few of the endophytes producing asiaticoside and madecassoside as secondary metabolites are being explored and are reported in different existing literatures. Different standardized protocols can be employed for the purpose of specific endophyte isolation and metabolite extraction. Further investigation needs to be undertaken for the identification of more asiaticoside and madecassoside producing fungi and also any bacterial endophytes. Industrial fermentation techniques can help in mass production of the compounds. Commercial enrichment of these bioactive molecules will help in curbing the overuse of the respective medicinal plant resources. Holistic knowledge about the wider distribution of endophytic microbial counterparts depending on various conditions of plant tissues can help in consistent grasping of the role of these organisms in synthesis of the bioactive metabolites.

Known as the obligate intracellular parasites, viruses are the minuscular giants that are associated with heterogeneous effects in living organisms. SARS CoV-2 is one such deadly virus wreaking havoc to the entire globe since February, 2020 and forced the whole world to be shut indoors following certain norms. SARS-CoV-2 bears close resemblance with the previous SARS-CoV and MERS CoV but is unique in mode of causing infection, disease causing ability and fatality rate. Natural plant-based products are in use since time immemorial against diverse types of ailments for the several benefits associated with them. There are numerous reports of phytochemicals with anti-viral characters. Researches are being carried out all over the globe to find out phytochemicals with significant mode of action against the virus. The plant-based chemicals primarily try to target the biomolecules associated with the infection and replication of the virus molecule inside the living cells. Docking studies and analyses are being done on such plant-based extracts and molecules that can efficiently inhibit the binding of the virus with the targets. The binding scores of the phytochemicals are found and compared against standard, conventional drug molecules in use. They are analysed further and several molecules from source plants like Allium sativum, Nigella sativa, Eucalyptus sp., Camellia sinensis, Curcuma longa, grapefruit and phytochemicals like naringenin, saikosaponins, Eucalyptol, essential oils and many more are found to show promising results in the study. This work tries to make an in-depth study and compilation of all the existing reports and literatures on such phytochemicals that can successfully emerge as alternative treatment approach to combat against the deadly SARS CoV-2 virus.