DEMONSTRATING THE STAINING ABILITY OF ZINGIBER OFFICINALE AND CURCUMA LONGA AS REPLACEMENT TO EOSIN Y IN EA50

The three major stains used in combination to stain cervical smears was discovered by Nicholas Papanicolaou and referred to as Pap stain. One of the stains is Eosin – Azure which is made up of Eosin Y, Light Green SF and Bismarck brown. Curcuma longa extract was applied in place of Eosin Y as a constituent of EA50. Cervical smears from premenopausal women were collected and stained with papanicolaou’s stain as control, while modified papanicolaou’s stain with Curcuma longa extract replacing Eosin Y in EA50 was also used to stain cervical smear. The staining ability of the modified stain was examined from the result. Superficial cells were well stained and demonstrated with the modified stain (T.A-extract) while the Zingiber Officinale extract (Z.A) stained the nuclei and cytoplasm of superficial cells poorly. The staining ability of the extract is 100% when compared to smears stained with Papanicolaou’s stain. The major purpose of staining is to demonstrate cellular components to aid diagnosis. Most of the stains available are age long discoveries which require modifications for better application. Local alternative will help boost availability and affordability. Curcuma Longa is readily available and from our findings, it can be used in place of Eosin Y as a component of Eosin Azure. The dye component of herbal products and their staining ability should be researched to create cheaper and readily available local alternative to imported stains.