Assessment of <i>Vicia faba</i> L. Peels: Phytochemical Characterization and Evaluation of Cytotoxic and Antimicrobial Potentials

The current study intends to reach the optimal use of plant wastes and explore their biological activities. It evaluated the bioactivities and phytoconstituents of 70 %methanol extract of Vicia faba L. peels. The results revealed that the extract possessed very potent cytotoxicity against ovarian cancer cell line (SKOV-3) (IC₅₀=0.01 μg/mL) which exceeds doxorubicin (IC₅₀=0.95 μg/ml), a reference anticancer agent, potent cytotoxicity against prostate cancer cell line (PC-3) (IC₅₀=13.60 μg/ml), and moderate cytotoxicity against liver cancer cell line (HepG2) (IC₅₀=40.9 μg/ml). Furthermore, the extract exhibited a potent antimicrobial effect on the tested gram-positive bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Enterococcus faecalis& Micrococcus luteus) with inhibition zone (IZ) range (14.0-23.0 mm), gram-negative bacteria (Pseudomonas aeruginosa) (IZ=14.0 mm), and pathogenic fungal yeast (Candida albicans) (IZ=19.0 mm). Moreover, 46 phytoconstituents were tentatively identified using ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC) hyphenated with quadrupole-time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometry (QTOF-MS) in positive ionization mode, 21 phytoconstituents were detected in Vicia faba peel for the first time. High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was used to quantify phenolic compounds, the major compounds were chlorogenic acid, ferulic acid, catechin, and vanillin. In conclusion, plant wastes are a rich source of phytoconstituents that exhibit biological efficacy.