BackgroundIn the view of endemic avian influenza H9N2 infection in poultry, its zoonotic potential and emergence of antiviral resistance, two herbal plants, Ocimum sanctum and Acacia arabica, which are easily available throughout various geographical locations in India were taken up to study their antiviral activity against H9N2 virus. We evaluated antiviral efficacy of three different extracts each from leaves of O. sanctum (crude extract, terpenoid and polyphenol) and A. arabica (crude extract, flavonoid and polyphenol) against H9N2 virus using in ovo model.MethodsThe antiviral efficacy of different leaves extracts was systematically studied in three experimental protocols viz. virucidal (dose-dependent), therapeutic (time-dependent) and prophylactic (dose-dependent) activity employing in ovo model. The maximum non-toxic concentration of each herbal extracts of O. sanctum and A. arabica in the specific pathogen free embryonated chicken eggs was estimated and their antiviral efficacy was determined in terms of reduction in viral titres, measured by Haemagglutination (HA) and real time quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) assays.ResultsAll the extracts of O. sanctum (crude extract, terpenoid and polyphenol) and A. arabica (crude extract, flavonoid and polyphenol) showed significant virucidal activity, however, crude extractocimum and terpenoidocimum showed highly significant to significant (p < 0.001–0.01) decrease in virus genome copy numbers with lowest dose tested. Similarly, therapeutic effect was observed in all three extracts of O. sanctum in comparison to the virus control, nevertheless, crude extractocimum and terpenoidocimum maintained this effect for longer period of time (up to 72 h post-incubation). None of the leaves extracts of A. arabica had therapeutic effect at 24 and 48 h post-incubation, however, only the crude extractacacia and polyphenolacacia showed delayed therapeutic effect (72 h post-inoculation). Prophylactic potential was observed in polyphenolacacia with highly significant antiviral activity compared to virus control (p < 0.001).ConclusionsThe crude extract and terpenoid isolated from the leaves of O. sanctum and polyphenol from A. arabica has shown promising antiviral properties against H9N2 virus. Future investigations are necessary to formulate combinations of these compounds for the broader antiviral activity against H9N2 viruses and evaluate them in chickens.