MICROENCAPSULATED HERBAL EXTRACTS WITH ANTIVIRAL ACTIVITY POTENTIAL: AN OVERVIEW Manuscrito recibido: 31/08/2020 Aceptado: 19/05/2021

Abstract

The use of active compounds from plants has generated a natural alternative around conditions that involve human health. A plant extract is a complex mixture of bioactive molecules that has antioxidant, antiviral, antimicrobial, antiparasitic properties, among others. Although a prominent challenge for the use of herbal extracts is the use of organic solvents as they make their formulation and direct administration difficult to people, this could be solved since recent research points to microencapsulation as an encouraging technology in the administration of phytopharmaceuticals. This review focused on thirty-two studies published in English and Spanish of some relevant research carried out mainly in the last ten years that pointed out the importance of plants in the pharmaceutical area, active principles of plants with antiviral activity, formulations of extracts of plants, in addition to the use of microencapsulation for its final presentation and assurance in its bioavailability, providing an overview in the global research on the drying of herbal extracts with potential antiviral activity