European Journal of Molecular & Clinical Medicine

Abstract

The demand for the use of natural dyes continues to increase all over the world. Natural dyes can be derived from different natural sources including plants. Application of natural dyes in food and textile industries is very pronounced but knowledge on staining biological specimens like urine is very limited. Currently, only synthetic dyes are available for staining urine sediments but empirical studies suggest that they are hazardous to health and to the environment. This study assessed the potential ability of the extract of turmeric rhizome as a suitable stain for microscopic urine sediments. Extraction and quantification of the natural product was evaluated using sohxlet apparatus. Results of the study were analyzed utilizing the statistical tool two-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) to determine the effect of certain factors to the efficacy of the plant dyes and Tukey’s multiple comparison tests to determine the effect of each parameter on the different microscopic urine elements. The results of the study revealed that turmeric extract can be used as a stain for microscopic urine sediments such as urates, phosphates, crystals, red blood cells (RBCs), white blood cells (WBCs), hyphal elements and epithelial cells. However, urinary casts were not optimally stained due to its high refractile nature. The efficiency of the staining result to urine elements is affected by varying concentrations and pH except for casts. On the other hand, there were noted changes in the staining affinity of elements when they were subjected to varying length of staining time except for red blood cells which were best observed when incubated for 5 minutes.