ABSTRACT
Mordant dye is a dye that interacts with a tissue, cell, or subcellular organelle via an interaction with a substance, a mordant, which interacts with the substrate and the dye. The interaction may involve covalent interaction. A mordant can be defined as a substance which interacts with both the substrate (for example tissue, cell, subcellular organelle) and the dye.1 Most mordants are metal salts such ferric chloride and those of chromium and vanadium. Other compounds such as tannic acid1 and galloylglucoses2 can serve as mordants. Hematoxylin used in Hematoxylin and eosin (H and E) staining which contains a mixture of chelates formed between hematein and aluminum ions.3,4 Mordant blue 3 (Chromoxane cyanine R) uses iron.5 There has been a significant increase in our understanding of mordant dyes.4,6
