Effect of root extract from Boerhaavia diffusa L., containing an antiviral principle upon plaque formation of RNA bacteriophages.

An extract obtained from the roots of Boerhaavia diffusa plants, which inhibits the infection of several plant viruses, was tested by the agar diffusion hole method for its action on RNA-containing bacterial viruses. Plaque formation of the phages was only partially and non-uniformly influenced by the extract so that a uniform principle of action was not realized for the RNA viruses of prokaryotic and eukaryotic host organisms.