Pemanfaatan Ekstrak Mahkota Bunga Pukul Empat sebagai Alternatif Pewarna Alami Preparat Section Batang Tanaman Beluntas

The aim of this study was to find out the quality of four o’clock flower petals extract as alternative stain to dye marsh fleabane stem section samples, this it can be substituted for costly safranin. The study was conducted using experimental method with Completely Randomized Design (CRD) with two factors, namely the duration of soakings were each 24, 48,and 72 hours and the solvents used were ethanol 96% and citric acid 14%. The findings of the study were analyzed using non-statistical descriptive qualitative method by observing the contrast and clarity. Based on the findings of the study, the four o’clock flower extract with solvent of ethanol 96% and citric acid 14% generated less contract and less clear samples for 24 and 48 hours soakings. The 72 hours soaking resulted in contrast and clear green color in the sample with solvent of ethanol 96%. While the 72 hours soaking in solvent of citric acid 14% resulted in contrast and clear red color, which was almost similar with the quality of safranin stain. It can be drawn from the study that the four o’clock flower extract is effective for microscopic staining of marsh fleabane stem section samples. The best result was obtained in 72 hours soaking using citric acid solution 14%