Evaluation of Staining on Rat Brain Tissue with the Dual Combination of Roselle (Hibiscus Sabdariffa L.) and Alkanet (Alkanna Tinctoria (L.) Tausch) Extracts

Natural colorants are used in many different areas such as textiles, cosmetics, leather, and medicine. The purpose of this study is to identify a natural colorant combination that can be an alternative to Hematoxylin-eosin dye using plant sources. For this, roselle (Hibiscus sabdariffa) and alkanet (Alkanna tinctoria) plants were used. The Hematoxylin-Eosin (H&E) staining procedure, most used for staining steps, was taken as standard. In this procedure, extracts of Hibiscus sabdariffa (Hs) in distilled water instead of eosin, and Alkanna tinctoria (At) in ethyl alcohol instead of hematoxylin were used. Seven different experimental sets were created by changing the position of the dyes in the H&E procedure and adding metal salts K Al (SO4)2 .12 H2O, CuSO4 .5H2O. One healthy rat brain tissue preparate was immersed in each of the seven different experimental sets. Another preparate of the same brain tissue was stained with H&E stain for positive control purposes. Preparate not staining was used as negative control. After the staining, images were taken in the light microscope of the tissues of eight preparates which were closed with the entellan. It was observed that the rat brain tissue nucleus and cytoplasm were stained in different colors, especially in the step using copper sulfate and alum. Because plants using in staining have different chemical structures like terpenoids, flavonoids, phenolics.