introduction
Lectins are carbohydrate-binding proteins or
glycoproteins of non-immune origin, which are able to
agglutinate cells and precipitate polysachaccharides
and glycoconjugates (Goldstein et al. 1980). They are
of great interest because of various applications. Their
carbohydrate-binding specificity enables their use in
cell separation techniques, in isolation and purification
procedures in biochemistry, cell biology, pharmacology,
immunology and other related areas. It has been used
in the isolation, purification and structural studies of
carbohydrate-containing polymers (Lis and Sharon
1986). They are also used in human blood typing and
in the characterization of the oligosaccharide structures