A study by a team of researchers from Banaras Hindu University in association with their counterparts from IIT (BHU) and Gujarat Ayurveda University, has claimed that Sunthi (dried ginger powder) or Z.officinale could be effective in management of Covid-19. The study suggests that the use of Sunthi could be useful in prevention of Covid-19. The team of researchers comprises Vaidya Sushil Kumar Dubey (Faculty of Ayurveda, Institute of Medical Sciences, BHU), Dr Vishwambhar Singh, Dr Yamini Bhushan Tripathi, Dr Rameshwar Nath Chaurasia, Dr Parameswarappa S Byadgi, Dr Namrata Joshi, Dr Tej Bali Singh, Amit Kumar, Anamika Yadav (IMS, BHU), Aishwarya Jaiswal (Department of Psychology), Dr Rajeev Mishra (Institute of Science), Dr Sunil Kumar Mishra (IIT BHU), and Dr Hitesh Jani (Gujarat Ayurveda University).
Vaidya Sushil Dubey informed that this is first-of-its-kind interdisciplinary study providing preliminary evidence on the clinical safety and effectiveness of Ayurvedic formulation of dry Z.officinale (ginger powder) as a prophylactic agent for Covid-19. He said the study was conducted with over 800 participants, including the household members of hospitalised corona virus-infected patients and frontline healthcare workers (doctors, nurses, ward boys, paramedics etc) operating in authorised government-run Covid-19 hospitals in Varanasi. He said the study was supported by the then District Magistrate of Varanasi Kaushal Raj Sharma (now Divisional Commissioner). The study used multi-centre, non-randomised, open-label, single-arm, pre-post design, he informed. As part of the exercise, participants consumed Sunthi powder four times daily, twice via oral (two grams) and twice via nasal (five gram) routes, for 15 days. They were followed-up after 15, 30 and 90 days. Besides, phytochemical analysis using liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (LC-MS) was conducted. Findings established that ginger comprises phytochemicals that help prevent Covid-19 transmission and its Ayurvedic formulation helped reduce SARS-CoV-2 transmission and moderated Covid-19 symptoms. The findings of the study have been published in the reputed Journal of Herbal Medicine, which is the official journal of the National Institute of Medical Herbalists (NIMH) in the United Kingdom (UK). NIMH is the leading professional body of herbal practitioners in that country. This work is one of India’s only two Covid-19-related clinical studies to be featured in this prestigious journal, claimed Vaidya Sushil Dubey. The study suggests that incorporating dry ginger in the Covid-19 prevention and management protocol of public health systems globally can be a safe, effective, readily deployable and affordable treatment for preventing coronavirus infection among the susceptible.