Rapid inactivation in vitro of SARS-CoV-2 in saliva by black tea and green tea

 Eriko Ohgitani, Masaharu Shin-Ya, Masaki Ichitani, Makoto Kobayashi, Takanobu Takihara, Masaya Kawamoto, Hitoshi Kinugasa, Osam Mazda

doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.12.28.424533

This article is a preprint and has not been certified by peer review [what does this mean?].

PDF: https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.12.28.424533v1.full.pdf

Abstract

Saliva plays major roles in human-to-human transmission of the SARS-CoV-2. Recently we reported that black, green and oolong tea significantly inactivated SARS-CoV-2 within 1 min. Theaflavin-3,3'-di-gallate (TFDG), theasinensin A (TSA) and (-) epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) were involved in the anti-viral activities. Here we examined how long period is required for the compounds to inactivate the virus. We also assessed whether tea inactivates SARS-CoV-2 diluted in human saliva. Treatment of SARS-CoV-2 with 500 μM TFDG or TSA for 10 sec reduced the virus titer to undetectable levels (less than 1/1,000). Black and green tea decreased virus titer to less than 1/100 within 10 sec even in saliva. These findings suggest a possibility that intake of, or gargling with, tea may inactivate SARS-CoV-2 in saliva in infected individuals, which may eventually attenuate spread of COVID-19 within a population, although clinical studies are required to test this hypothesis by determining the intensity and duration of the anti-viral effect of tea in saliva in humans.

Competing Interest Statement

This study was partially funded by ITO EN, ltd, Tokyo, Japan. The company also provided tea samples, sample preparations and discussion with authors, but did not involve in the design of the study, collection and analyses of data, interpretation of results, preparation of the manuscript, or the decision to publish the results.

https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.12.28.424533v1