Since antiquity, what we now refer to as folk, traditional, or alternative medicine has been the major source of remedies, which were mostly reliant on medicinal plants. On the other hand, modern medicine is now confronting a problem as a result of its inability to prevent the onset of disease. As a result, there is a pressing need to return to Mother Nature and its wealth of natural medicines.

In the scientific literature, numerous studies on the bioactive properties of medicinal plants have been published. For example, there are claims that Allium sativum, Trigonella foenum-graecum, Ferula assa-foetida, Carthamus tinctorius, and Mangifera indica are all plants with antidiabetic activity. Pistacia lentiscus, Diospyros abyssinica, Sargentodoxa cuneata, Acacia auriculiformis, Ficus microcarpa, Salvia officinalis, and the Lamiaceae species contain potent antioxidants. Aloe vera, Curcuma longa, Emblica officinalis, Stevia rebaudiana, and Gymnema sylvestre are suggested for possible anticancer activity. Stephania glabra, Woodfordia fruticosa, Betula utilis, Nelumbo nucifera, and Calotropis gigantean have been identified as effective antimicrobial plants (in vitro). Recently, some medicinal plants have been reported to possibly possess anti-SARS-CoV-2 activity (in vitro), such as Lycoris radiate, Artemisia annua, Pyrrosia lingua, Nigella sativa, and Houttuynia cordata. It is important to mention that clinical trials are required to demonstrate all these possible activities, particularly regarding SARS-CoV-2, for which no effective drug based on natural products has been approved yet.

Saussurea costus (Falc.) Lipschitz, also known as Saussurea lappa C.B. Clarke, is a well-known and valuable medicinal plant that is used in many indigenous medical systems to treat asthma, inflammatory diseases, ulcers, and stomach disorders, among other conditions. Moreover, some studies have reported that Saussurea costus exhibits antiviral activity.

In January 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic due to the global spread of the disease and the novel emergency alarm raised by the WHO. Electronic health records with easily accessible characteristics in combination with a COVID-19 mortality risk prediction model may allow rapid and precise risk categorization of COVID-19 patients upon admission. Coronaviruses are a broad group of respiratory viruses that are responsible for various disorders, including the common cold. The new virus is unique due to its complex envelope protein, which resulted from mutations. A coronavirus is an enveloped RNA virus that is covered by the spike protein. This protein assists the virus in entering the host and determining the properties of the host. The protein has two parts: a membrane protein and an envelope protein, both of which are considered to have a role in the progression of the sickness. In addition, hemagglutinin esterase is a glycoprotein that is present in bovine coronaviruses and is attached to their envelopes.

According to WHO statistics, the number of infected cases of COVID-19 has reached more than four hundred million globally, with a 1.3% death rate and 86.4% of patients treated. The severe conditions have motivated global researchers to organize research teams to cover broad research areas in different fields, including drug discovery, mathematical modeling and data management, sociopolitical analysis, and education. Furthermore, various types of medicinal plants and herbs have been utilized for their possible antiviral activity. Several common ailments, including malaria, cholera, and asthma, are treated using medicinal herbs. Although medicinal herbs are adjuvant treatments, the protocols to treat these diseases are still based on synthetic medicines. Heteromorpha spp. medicinal plants have demonstrated antiviral activity against HCV-229E (in vitro). Eleutherococcus senticosus extract has proven to be an RNA viral inhibitor. A polar water-soluble natural compound extracted from Sannicolas europium was found to inhibit an RNA virus. Medicinal natural compounds extracted from Rosa nutkana and Amelanchier alnifolia exhibited vigorous activity towards enteric coronavirus.

On the other hand, the crisis of drug-resistant microbes is growing globally. It has been reported that approximately 13 million deaths per year are attributed to microbial infections (other than viral infections), despite efforts to prevent and manage microbial pathogens that have been ongoing for more than a century and which have been largely successful with the aid of antibiotics. However, these antibiotics are currently failing to control newly emerging and re-emerging bacterial contagious diseases. Bacteria, fungi, and parasites develop the ability to avoid the effects of antimicrobial drugs, survive, and, in some circumstances, grow extremely virulent. The process underpinning the development of drug-sensitive and drug-resistant microorganisms is a phenomenon of great complexity. Implementing an antimicrobial stewardship program is vital to controlling this growing phenomenon, and more efforts are needed to develop new antimicrobial medications.

Many medicinal herbs such as Allium sativum, Azadirachta indica, Tinospora Cordifolia, Syzygium aromaticum, Panax quinquefolius, Piper nigrum, Withania somnifera, Curcuma longa, Sambucus nigra,and Tinospora Cordifolia have been approved as sources of minerals, steroids, and alkaloids and have been suggested for possible antiviral activities (in vitro). Saussurea Costus, a medicinal plant, is grown in vast regions worldwide, including India, Pakistan, and some parts of the Himalayas.The taxonomic details of Saussurea costus are as follows: its Plantae phylum is Trichophyte, its class is Magnoliopsidas, its order is Astral, and it belongs to the Asteraceae family. Saussurea costus, in terms of morphology, is a 1–2 m tall upright herbaceous plant with a strong and hairy seedhead. Leaves are narrow, rough, glabrous, and auriculate and have irregularly formed teeth in general. At 0.50 to 1.25 m in length, the bottom leaves are somewhat large and feature long petioles with wings. Upper leaves are tiny and virtually sessile, with two small lobes at the base that almost wrap around the stem. The flowers are stemless and range in color from bluish-purple to nearly black. Their width varies from 2.4 to 3.9 cm, and they are spherical. The roots are dark brown or gray and reach a length of 40 cm. The roots of Saussurea costus have been used for treating dysentery, rheumatism, stomachache, ulcer, and toothache. The roots of Saussurea costus are widely used in Islamic culture and are famous in Arab regions, although it is not cultivated there. Moreover, traditional healers claim that it can control COVID-19. Studies on the potential anti-COVID-19 activity and the antimicrobial potential of Saussurea costus on specific fractions are scarce. Therefore, the main objective of the current study was to determine the phytochemical compounds in the acetic extract of Saussurea costus and investigate the possible in vitro antibacterial and anti-Candida, anti-herpes, and anti-SARS-CoV-2 potential, as well as its molecular docking to understand the possible interactions of these bioactive molecules at the atomic level.