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Synopsis

The COVID-19 pandemic has reshaped global healthcare systems and highlighted the urgent need for safe, effective, and multi-target therapeutic strategies. Beyond its acute respiratory manifestations, COVID-19 has revealed complex systemic involvement, including cardiovascular, metabolic, neurological, and profound neuropsychiatric complications. In particular, the emergence of post-COVID syndrome or Long COVID has brought attention to persistent conditions such as anxiety, depression, cognitive impairment, chronic fatigue, and sleep disturbances, which continue to affect millions of individuals worldwide.

Conventional pharmacotherapy, while essential in acute management, often falls short in addressing the multifactorial and interconnected pathophysiological mechanisms underlying these long-term complications. These include chronic inflammation, oxidative stress, immune dysregulation, endothelial dysfunction, mitochondrial impairment, and neurochemical imbalance. This therapeutic gap has renewed global interest in natural products and herbal medicines as complementary and integrative approaches in disease management.

Natural products derived from medicinal plants have long been a cornerstone of traditional healing systems such as Ayurveda, Unani, Traditional Chinese Medicine, and other ethnomedical practices. Modern scientific research now increasingly validates their pharmacological potential, particularly their antiviral, anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory, antioxidant, and neuroprotective properties. These multi-target actions make herbal agents especially suitable for complex diseases like COVID-19 and associated mental health disorders.

This edited book, Natural Products and Herbal Strategies in COVID-19 and Mental Health Management, brings together current scientific evidence, mechanistic insights, and translational perspectives on the role of medicinal plants and natural compounds in managing viral infections and neuropsychiatric complications. It explores phytochemicals, pharmacological mechanisms, clinical evidence, and emerging technologies such as nanoformulations, systems pharmacology, and evidence-based herbal drug development.

The objective of this volume is to bridge the gap between traditional knowledge and modern biomedical science, providing researchers, academicians, healthcare professionals, and students with a comprehensive resource on herbal strategies for COVID-19 and mental health management. It also aims to encourage further research and innovation in integrative medicine for future global health challenges.

We hope this book will serve as a valuable reference and inspire new directions in phytopharmacology and integrative therapeutic research