Determination of sugar specificity of jackfruit lectin by a simple sugar-lectin binding assay using microtiter plate.

Sugar-lectin binding assay was developed as a simple method which employed direct coating of microtiter plate with galactose-binding lectins. Biotin-galactose conjugate was used to bind to the immobilized lectins. The bound conjugate was then detected using streptavidin-horseradish peroxidase. Using the assay in conjunction with various competing carbohydrates, jackfruit lectin from Artocarpus heterophyllus was found to be specific for alpha-anomer of galactoside with an aromatic residue.