0973-7510 Journal of Pure and Applied Microbiology 2581-690X DR. M.N. Khan 10.22207/JPAM.15.1.26 Nigella sativa (Black Seed) as a Natural Remedy against Viruses Saleh Basurra Rasha Mui Wang Seok Alhoot Mohammed Abdelfatah Post Graduate Centre (PGC), Management and Science University (MSU), Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia. Department of Paraclinic, Faculty of Medicine and Health Science, University of Aden, Aden, Yemen. Department of Medical Microbiology and Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Selangor, Malaysia. Institute of Pathology, Laboratory and Forensic Medicine (I-PPerForM), Universiti Teknologi MARA, Selangor, Malaysia. International Medical School (IMS), Management and Science University (MSU), Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia. 19 02 2021 15 1 29 41 Copyright © 2021 The Author(s) 2021 This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License which permits unrestricted use, sharing, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

The currently available antiviral agents are associated with serious adverse effects, coupled with the increasing rate of viral resistance to the existing antiviral drugs. Hence, the search for alternative natural remedies is gaining momentum across the globe. Nigella sativa Linnen, also called Black seed, is a medicinal plant that is gaining worldwide recognition and has been extensively investigated. The present work is aimed to review the existing literature on the antiviral efficacy of Nigella sativa extracts (oil and bioactive compounds). The findings reveal that numerous articles have been published on Nigella sativa and its beneficial effects against different kinds of diseases. However, the antiviral efficacy of Nigella sativa is yet to be given the proper research attention it deserves.

 Keywords Nigella sativa Black seed Antiviral activity Viruses Natural remedy