Evaluating In Silico the Potential Health and Environmental Benefits of Houseplant Volatile Organic Compounds for an Emerging ‘Indoor Forest Bathing’ Approach

Valentina Roviello, Pasqualina Liana Scognamiglio, Ugo Caruso, Caterina Vicidomini and Giovanni N. Roviello
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Valentina Roviello: Department of Chemical, Materials and Industrial Production Engineering (DICMaPI), University of Naples Federico II, Piazzale V. Tecchio 80, 80125 Naples, Italy
Pasqualina Liana Scognamiglio: Center for Advanced Biomaterial for Health Care (CABHC), Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, 80125 Naples, Italy
Ugo Caruso: Department of Chemical Sciences, University of Naples Federico II, Via Cintia 21, 80126 Naples, Italy
Caterina Vicidomini: Istituto di Biostrutture e Bioimmagini IBB-CNR, Via Tommaso De Amicis 95, 80145 Naples, Italy
Giovanni N. Roviello: Istituto di Biostrutture e Bioimmagini IBB-CNR, Via Tommaso De Amicis 95, 80145 Naples, Italy

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 19, issue 1, 1-12

Abstract: The practice of spending time in green areas to gain the health benefits provided by trees is well known, especially in Asia, as ‘forest bathing’, and the consequent protective and experimentally detectable effects on the human body have been linked to the biogenic volatile organic compounds released by plants. Houseplants are common in houses over the globe and are particularly appreciated for aesthetic reasons as well for their ability to purify air from some environmental volatile pollutants indoors. However, to the best of our knowledge, no attempt has been made to describe the health benefits achievable from houseplants thanks to the biogenic volatile organic compounds released, especially during the day, from some of them. Therefore, we performed the present study, based on both a literature analysis and in silico studies, to investigate whether the volatile compounds and aerosol constituents emitted by some of the most common houseplants (such as peace lily plant, Spathiphyllum wallisii , and iron plant, Aspidistra eliator ) could be exploited in ‘indoor forest bathing’ approaches, as proposed here for the first time not only in private houses but also public spaces, such as offices, hospitals, and schools. By using molecular docking (MD) and other in silico methodologies for estimating vapor pressures and chemico-physical/pharmacokinetic properties prediction, we found that β-costol is an organic compound, emitted in appreciable amounts by the houseplant Spathiphyllum wallisii , endowed with potential antiviral properties as emerged by our MD calculations in a SARS-CoV-2 M pro (main protease) inhibition study, together with sesquirosefuran. Our studies suggest that the anti-COVID-19 potential of these houseplant-emitted compounds is comparable or even higher than known M pro inhibitors, such as eugenol, and sustain the utility of houseplants as indoor biogenic volatile organic compound emitters for immunity boosting and health protection.

Keywords: houseplant; biogenic volatile organic compounds; forest bathing; environmental; human health; in silico analysis; SARS-CoV-2; COVID-19; Spathiphyllum wallisii; Aspidistra eliator (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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