In this study, a beetroot peel flour was made, and its in vitro antioxidant activity was determined in aqueous (BPFw) and ethanolic (BPFe) extracts. The influence of BPFw on breast cancer cell viability was also determined. A targeted betalain profile was obtained using high-resolution Q-Extractive Plus Orbitrap mass spectrometry (Obrtitrap-HRMS) alongside untargeted chemical profiling of BPFw using Ultra-High-Performance Liquid Chromatography with High-Resolution Mass Spectrometry (UHPLC-HRMS). BPFw and BPFe presented satisfactory antioxidant activities, with emphasis on the total phenolic compounds and ORAC results for BPFw (301.64 ± 0.20 mg GAE/100 g and 3032.78 ± 55.00 µmol T/100 g, respectively). The MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells presented reductions in viability when treated with BPFw, showing dose-dependent behavior, with MDA-MB-231 also showing time-dependent behavior. The chemical profiling of BPFw led to the identification of 9 betalains and 59 other compounds distributed amongst 28 chemical classes, with flavonoids and their derivates and coumarins being the most abundant. Three forms of betalain generated via thermal degradation were identified. However, regardless of thermal processing, the BPF still presented satisfactory antioxidant and anticancer activities, possibly due to synergism with other identified molecules with reported anticancer activities via different metabolic pathways.
Keywords: Beta vulgaris L.; betalains; breast cancer; chemical profiling.