Biotechnology Journal International

Aim: This study aimed at exploring the hemagglutinating and antibacterial activities of crude lectin from the fruit pulp of Trilepisium madagascariense DC.

Methods: Crude lectin was obtained by maceration of the fruit and ammonium sulphate precipitation. Hemagglutinating activity assay was carried out by determining the ability of the crude extract to agglutinate red blood cells, serial dilution of the crude lectin was done followed by addition of erythrocytes. The crude lectin was subjected to evaluation for inhibition of bacterial growth by the agar well diffusion method against fourteen human pathogenic gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria.

Results: The extract agglutinated trypsinized and glutaraldehyde-fixed rabbit and human erythrocytes with higher specificity for rabbit erythrocytes and better agglutination with trypsinized erythrocytes. Among the various sugar tested, the hemagglutination was best inhibited by galactose. The crude lectin demonstrated mild spectrum antibacterial activity against four pathogenic gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria. The minimum inhibitory concentration ranged from 1.56 mg/ml to 6.25 mg/ml for Streptococcus faecalis, Bacillus anthracis, Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas fluorescens.

Conclusion: The study showed that there is presence of hemagglutinins in the extract  and the extract possess antibacterial potential against some pathogenic bacteria tested and can be developed as alternative antibacterial drug that could be employed for the treatment of infectious diseases caused by these pathogens.