Peptide Extract from Red Kidney Beans, (Fabaceae), Shows Promising Antimicrobial, Antibiofilm, and Quorum Sensing Inhibitory Effects.

The rapid spread of multidrug-resistant bacteria has led to an increased risk of infectious diseases. , in particular, poses a significant obstacle due to its propensity to rapidly acquire resistance to conventional antibiotics. This has resulted in an urgent need for the development of new classes of antibiotics that do not induce resistance. Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) have been studied as potential small-molecule antibiotics due to their unique mode of action. In this study, peptides were extracted from the seeds of (Fabaceae), and the antimicrobial activities of the extract were evaluated using microbroth dilution against five different microorganisms. The extract showed antimicrobial activity against all tested organisms with minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) of 2.5 mg/mL, except for and , which had MICs of 1.25 mg/mL. The extract was also bacteriostatic for all tested organisms. The crude peptide extract from was further studied for its antibiofilm activity against , a common nosocomial pathogen associated with biofilm formation. The extract showed good antibiofilm activity at 1/2 MIC. The extract also inhibited the expression of pyocyanin and pyoverdine (virulence factors of whose expression is mediated by quorum sensing) by 82% and 66%, respectively. These results suggest that the peptide mix from may inhibit biofilm formation and virulence factor expression by interfering with cell-to-cell communication in . The ability of the extract to inhibit the growth and biofilm formation of all tested organisms indicates its potential as an antimicrobial agent that could be further studied for drug discovery.