Antifungal activity of ginsenoside CK against Botrytis cinerea by targeting sterol 14α-demethylase cytochrome P450 (CYP51) and the application on cherry tomato preservation

Botrytis cinerea (B. cinerea) may cause severe decay in fruits and vegetables. In this paper, we found a food-borne compound ginsenoside CK (GCK) (from Ginseng) demonstrating excellent anti-B. cinerea activity and investigated its underlying inhibitory mechanism. The computational biology methods and bioactivity assays revealed that GCK markedly inhibited the bioactivity of sterol 14α-demethylase cytochrome P450 (CYP51) in B. cinerea with a competitive inhibitory mechanism (IC50 = 14.45 μM). In vitro tests showed that GCK (64 × 10−3 g L−1) limited the mycelial growth of B. cinerea through inhibiting CYP51 activity by 85.92%. Notably, GCK treatment decreased the bioactivity of CYP51, thereby increasing cell membrane permeability that led to the death of B. cinerea. Moreover, GCK (64 × 10−3 g L−1) treatment reduced the decay of cherry tomatoes by 89.24% compared with those of blank control group. Our research revealed that the food-borne substance GCK could inhibit B. cinerea, prolonging the shelf life of cherry tomatoes. Thus, GCK has the potential to be applied in the preservation of fruits as an antifungal agent.