{"id":4471,"date":"2025-12-17T10:18:03","date_gmt":"2025-12-17T03:18:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www2.si.mahidol.ac.th\/department\/biochemistry\/?p=4471"},"modified":"2025-12-17T10:18:47","modified_gmt":"2025-12-17T03:18:47","slug":"discovery-of-procyanidin-condensed-tannins-of-epicatechin-from-kratom-mitragyna-speciosa-as-virucidal-agents-against-sars-cov-2-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www2.si.mahidol.ac.th\/department\/biochemistry\/en\/discovery-of-procyanidin-condensed-tannins-of-epicatechin-from-kratom-mitragyna-speciosa-as-virucidal-agents-against-sars-cov-2-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Discovery of procyanidin condensed tannins of (-)-epicatechin from Kratom, Mitragyna speciosa, as virucidal agents against SARS-CoV-2"},"content":{"rendered":"
Kratom, Mitragyna speciosa, is one of the most popular herbs in the West and Southeast Asia. A number of previous works have focused on bioactive alkaloids in this plant; however, non-alkaloids have never been investigated for their biological activities. Antiviral and virucidal assays of a methanol leaf extract of Kratom, M. speciosa, revealed that a crude extract displayed virucidal activity against the SARS-CoV-2. Activity-guided isolation of a methanol leaf extract of Kratom led to the identification of B-type procyanidin condensed tannins of (-)-epicatechin as virucidal compounds against SARS-CoV-2. The fraction containing condensed tannins exhibited virucidal activity with an EC50 value of 8.38 \u03bcg\/mL and a selectivity index (SI) value >23.86. LC-MS\/MS analysis and MALDI-TOF MS identified the structure of the virucidal compounds in Kratom as B-type procyanidin condensed tannins, while gel permeation chromatograph (GPC) revealed weight average molecular weight of 238,946 Da for high molecular-weight condensed tannins. In addition to alkaloids, (-)-epicatechin was found as a major component in the leaves of M. speciosa, but it did not have virucidal activity. Macromolecules of (-)-epicatechin, i.e., procyanidin condensed tannins, showed potent virucidal activity against SARS-CoV-2, suggesting that the high molecular weights of these polyphenols are important for virucidal activity.<\/p>\n