Objective: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is one of the major causes of chronic liver diseases and a leading cause of liver transplantation. There is no unique drug which is uniformly effective against all HCV genotypes. The NS3 HCV protease is essential for the replication of viral RNA. By inhibiting the function of NS3 protease, replication of the viral RNA of HCV can be stopped. This communication reports on the identification and docking efficiency of the active                                                                                                             principle obtained from Boerhavia diffusa, an Indian herb used by ethnic practitioners to treat hepatic diseases.Methods: An in silico docking study was carried out to evaluate the inhibitory potential of bioactive compounds of the plant B. diffusa against HCV NS3 protease by using Discovery studio 4.0. All the ligands were analyzed for Lipinski's rule of five and ADME properties.Results: Phthalic acid, caffeoyltartaric acid, propionic acid, quercetin, 3,5,7,2,5 penta hydroxyl flavones, silanamine and beta-sitosterol significantly bind with HCV NS3 protease with good binding energies -290.59, -246.93, -172.45, -97.37, -94.79, -50.04 and -21.80 Kcal/mol respectively. All these compounds passed Lipinskis rule of five and ADME/T analysis of these compounds showed that they were less toxic and non-mutagenic.Conclusion: The in silico analyses establishes that active principles in B. diffusa inhibit viral replication. In vivo validation of this finding is suggested to optimize their formulation and concentration to develop potential chemical entities for the treatment of HCV infection
