Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

My paper is entitled "Analyzing the Potential of Crescentia cujete in SARS-CoV-2 Treatment". My research shows that certain phytochemicals in this fruit like quercetin and more can help combat CoVid-19. Is it safe to assume that this fruit as a whole can really fight CoVid-19? I also need more of your expert's opinions. Thank you very muchh

Hello!

This sounds like some really interesting research! Just to clarify, is the research you're talking about from a science project that you're working on, or is it another scientists' research paper that you were reading for research? In regards to your question about whether or not it's safe to assume that the whole fruit can fight COVID-19, that depends on the data and the experimental design! Let's say a group of scientists performed an experiment where one group of people infected with COVID-19 were told to eat the Crescentia cujete while another group of infected people did not eat the fruit. If the group of people who ate the fruit got better faster than the people who didn't eat the fruit, then that would be good evidence that the whole fruit can help fight COVID-19. On the other hand, let's say another scientist did an experiment where they infected cells with the virus in a petri dish and then treated some of the cells with quercetin. If the cells treated with the quercetin were able to kill the virus more efficiently than the cells that didn't get the treatment, that would imply that the whole fruit could help combat COVID-19, but you wouldn't know that for sure unless you did an experiment with human subjects.

I hope this helps!