Name: Ramya Nambiar

College: CMR National PU college, ITPL campus, Bangalore

Item observed: Auramine O

Description:-

Auramine-O is a diarylmethane dye used as a fluorescent stain. In its pure form it is very soluble in water and in ethanol.

When viewed under the foldscope, it appears as yellow needle crystals. It is a hydrochloride and a fluorescent stain. It along with carbol generates brilliant yellow fluorochrome of bacilli.

It is used for the staining of acid-fast organisms, coccidia. It is also effective in detecting positive cases of tuberculosis. Viewing this under the foldscope gave me a magnified image of every single particle that made it and also gave me a better understanding of this chemical dye.