Lectins are proteins or glycoproteins able to bind, specifically and reversibly carbohydrates and glycoconjugates.
Considering this ability, the utilization of Caesalpinia pulcherrima seeds polysaccharides as an affinity matrix was
tested. The endospermic gum were solubilized in distinct concentrations of NaOH and treated with different
amounts of epichlorohydrin (ECH) forming affinity gels with variable capacity for interaction with galactosebinding
lectins. The gel with an ECH/gum ration of 6.0mmol/g was selected as the best affinity matrix. The matrix
presented different efficiencies in terms of isolating galactose-binding lectins. C. pulcherrima endospermic
galactomannans were purified by ethanol precipitation and the purified galactomannan was crosslinked with the
best formulation of gel. The Artocarpus incisa, Ricinus communis and Abrus precatorius lectins showed interactions
of 11.5, 17.7 and 47.2mg of retained protein in 1g of gel, respectively; the Artocarpus integrifolia lectin showed the
highest affinities (79.7mg/g). The heamaglutination assays confirmed the activity and SDS-PAGE electrophoresis
confirmed the isolation of the lectins in a single-step procedure.
