Post harvest management of fruits and vegetable spoilage by Aspergillus niger employing some selected natural compounds: An Insilico study

Abstract

The enzyme Polygalacturonase is produced by fungal pathogens for their success and survival during host infection. Among fungal pathogens, Aspergillus niger is the key fungus which infects post harvested fruits and vegetables leading to their decay. In the present investigation, polygalacturonase inhibition potentials of some selected natural compounds were studied insilico. The putative protein three dimensional structure of polygalacturonase was built by Homology modelling using MODELLER software. An advanced molecular docking software Auto Dock was used for docking study. Fifteen natural compounds were tested targeting the Polygalacturonase protein of Aspergillus niger. The putative polygalacturonase protein for Aspergillus niger was built by homology modeling using MODELLER software. Among fifteen natural compounds studied, Withanolide L, Withanolide G, Withanolide M, Withanolide O have shown strong interaction with Polygalacturonase compared to other compounds in the study.

Hence, from the above results, it can be concluded that polygalacturonase enzyme which is involved in fruit ripening and spoilage of fruits can be inhibited by spraying above natural compounds. However, further invitro and invivo investigations are needed to confirm these observations.