Antiviral Activity of Plant-Based Additives Against African Swine Fever Virus (ASFV) in Feed Ingredients

Background: African swine fever (ASF) is one of the deadliest swine diseases with haemorrhagic symptoms and a high mortality rate. Plant-derived additives are potential antiviral agents against viruses due to their environmental and user-friendly properties.

Objectives: This study aims to evaluate the efficacy of plant-based additives (Phyto.A04 and Phyto.B) compared to an organic acid blend (OAB) in inactivating ASF virus (ASFV) in cell culture and feed.

Methods: ASFV-spiked feed was treated with individual or combined additives such as OAB, Phyto.A04 and Phyto.B. The viability of ASFV after treatment of ASFV-spiked feed with additives was then confirmed by both methods, real-time PCR and cell culture.

Results: The results of the in vitro test with cell cultures showed that all three additives (OAB, Phyto.A04 and Phyto.B) exerted a strong virucidal effect on ASFV in porcine alveolar macrophage cells. OAB at a concentration of 0.3% reduced the virus concentration from 4.48 log₁₀ HAD₅₀/mL after 1 day of treatment (day 1) to 3.29 log₁₀ HAD₅₀/mL after 3 days of treatment (day 3) and remained undetected after 7 days of treatment (day 7). In Phyto.A04 with 1%, the virus was only detectable on day 1 (3.53 log₁₀ HAD₅₀/mL). Phyto.B with 0.01% and 0.05% both showed good efficacy in completely inhibiting virus presence on days 3 and 7.

Conclusions: All additives, OAB, Phyto.A04 and Phyto.B, were able to inactivate ASFV in a dose-dependent manner, as confirmed by cell culture and PCR methods. The combination of additives at different concentrations consistently improved the virucidal results.