UHPLC/MS2-based approach for the comprehensive metabolite profiling of bean (Vicia faba L.) by-products: A promising source of bioactive constituents.

Today, by-products generated from the agro-industrial practices are considered a key source of bioactive and functional components, that can be used for their nutritional and added value properties. New aspects concerning the use of these wastes as by-products in food production additives or supplements with high nutritional and medicinal value have gained substantial interest, due to their possession of economically high-value products. In this sense, the present study describes a thorough characterization of phytochemical compounds from hydro-methanolic extract of broad beans testa by using ultra-high performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC) hyphenated with quadrupole-time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometry (QTOF-MS). The proposed analytical technique provides tentative characterization of 134 phenolic and other phytochemical compounds in the Vicia faba extract, most of which have not been described so far in broad beans. Thus, >85 phytochemicals (Amino acids, phenolic acids, flavonoids, lignans, and terpenoids derivatives) are being reported herein in broad beans pods for the first time. The characterization process was carried out using MS and MS2 data provided by the ESI-qTOF-MS, along with the use of the relevant literature based on the same botanical family. The data obtained demonstrates that the agro-industrial by-product could potentially be utilized as a promising source of bioactive ingredients to design new functional foods and nutraceuticals with a valuable future market. Furthermore, the obtained data may form a basis for future quantitative and bioavailability studies, which will be the next step in this present work.