Nigrosin

Nigrosin or Indian ink is a type of dye used for negative staining technique. Its colour is dark black and is acidic.

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Nigrosin is negatively charged and this property is used to stain bacteria which are usually also negatively charged.

Advantages of using this dye rather than regular base stains like methylene blue or carbol fuchsin include its ability to stain many microorganisms that cannot be stained by regular methods, absence of heat fixing or many other methods that may harm the subject and possibly distort the data, and the fact that it is relatively fast and simple.

References

• Sohn, S. Biomedical Science Professor of U of W.
• Mohamed,M. Optometry Professor.
• Smith, K. Optometrist.