Mechanism unravelling the effect of 1-Methylcyclopropene (1-MCP)through molecular docking approach and postharvest analysis in papaya

1-Methylcyclopropene (1-MCP), an ethylene receptor inhibitor, has been widely applied in delaying the ripening of fruits including several tropical and temperate fruit crops. A molecular docking approach has been attempted in this study to understand the effect of 1-MCP and ethylene in regulating the fruit ripening process in addition to postharvest wet lab experiments. The molecular docking approach executed in this study is a first of kind approach to study the interaction of 1-MCP and ethylene molecule to the ethylene binding receptor protein and study the effectiveness of 1-MCP in inhibiting ethylene responses. Also, using bioinformatics tools, an attempt was made to predict the complete protein structure of ethylene receptors ETR1 and ERS1, which is not available so far. The in-silico approach and postharvest studies reveal that 1-MCP has higher affinity to bind ethylene receptors (less binding energy)than ethylene, confirming its efficacy on inhibiting ethylene signaling, thus can also be regarded as ethylene perception inhibitor. Hence, 1-MCP has a greater scope in delaying the ripening process as observed in the present investigation. The study also shows a plausible mechanism at the molecular level for delaying ripening process in papaya fruit which paves way to identify alternative GRAS compounds to extend shelf life of perishables.