ethanolic extract of vitis vinifera (black grapes) skin as a safer alternative to hematoxylin and eosin stain

Hematoxylin and eosin (h&e) is the gold standard stain in routine histopathological staining. however, the worldwide shortage of hematoxylin, the substandard quality of the stain, its infrequent supply, and increasing cost have troubled pathologists across the globe. besides, the treatment with acidic solutions in trichrome and other stains leads to diminished nuclear staining. this combined with the detrimental effects of eosin, which is a synthetic dye, has encouraged the development of newer, eco-friendly, organic dyes from natural derivates. the present study aimed to evaluate the staining efficacy of ethanolic extract of vitis vinifera (black grapes) skin in routine histopathological staining compared to h&e stain. dye components from vitis vinifera skin were extracted using absolute ethanol. the ethanolic extract of vitis vinifera skin and h&e stain were used to stain tissue blocks containing mucosa, muscle, gland, lymph nodes, and decalcified bone. the slides were evaluated for the nuclear details, nuclear staining, cytoplasmic staining, and uniformity by a blinded pathologist. a chi-square test was done to check the statistical significance. ethanolic extract of vitis vinifera skin demonstrated nuclear details comparable to h&e. however, the difference in staining between the stains was not found to be statistically significant (p=0.088). this study showed that dye components can be extracted from vitis vinifera skin. the nuclear staining of histological tissue with ethanolic extract of vitis vinifera skin was comparable to the h&e stain.