The White Mulberry (Morus alba L.), Common Mulberry, Mulberry (English) or Mora (Spanish), is a species of mulberry trees, fruit trees of the family Moraceae. Native to China, the White Mulberry was widely cultivated for its leaves, exclusive food of the silkworm.

The MLL lectin, purified by affinity and binding to galactose, is isolated from mulberry tree seeds Morus alba L. This lectin has a molecular weight of 17 kDa and is purified by affinity chromatography on an agarose-GalNAc column. Hemagglutination activity was detected using rabbit erythrocytes treated with 2% trypsin.

Lectins are glycoproteins found in high concentrations in most dry legume seeds (lentils, beans, peas), but also more widely in nature (other plant families, fungi and animals). Lectin is a collective term for proteins that are different from antibodies and enzymes, and that recognize and bind specifically to sugar chains. Each lectin recognizes different chain structures, and various lectins are known to recognize specific chain structures such as mannose, galactose, sialic acid and fucose.