Comparison of Staining Efficacy between Turmeric and Eosin: A Histological Study

Abstract

Introduction: Turmeric-Curcuma longa is a natural dye and has been used for various purposes since centuries. The global interest to use biodegradable materials; natural dyes/stains has evoked curiosity to explore its staining efficacy. Limited studies have been performed to determine the efficacy of turmeric as a stain for formalin fixed paraffin embedded sections that are routinely stained with Hematoxylin and Eosin (H&E). This study highlights on the comparison of turmeric extraction methods namely, maceration and soxhlet in relation to its staining efficacy which is first of its kind. Also, the staining of turmeric extracts on pathological tissues has not been tried earlier. Aim: To compare two different extraction methods for turmeric namely the maceration and soxhlet, to compare staining efficacy of turmeric with and without mordant, to compare efficacy of turmeric stain with synthetic eosin in normal and pathological tissues. Materials and Methods: Curcuma longa was dried, powdered and extracted by maceration and soxhlet techniques. Tissue sections were stained with and without the mordant potash alum in normal and pathologic tissues. The staining intensity, efficacy of prepared turmeric stain with that of eosin were compared by appreciating the respective tissue structures stained by both the components. The statistical analysis was carried out by Chisquare test. Results: Statistically significant results were observed in sections stained by maceration technique than that of the soxhlet. The Hematoxylin and Turmeric (H&T) sections in which Mordant was incorporated with Turmeric (TEM) fetched better results. Comparable results were obtained in normal and pathologic tissue sections stained with H&T (TEM) with conventionally employed H&E stain. Conclusion: Turmeric extract can be used as an adjunct stain to eosin, a synthetic stain.

Keywords

• curcumin
• maceration
• mordant
• soxhlet