Erythrosin B, also called Acid Red 51, is used as a food colorant, in printing inks and as a biological stain in plant anatomy. It finds application as a dental plaque disclosing agent and a sensitizer for orthochromatic photographic films. As a food additive, it is commonly used in sweets like candies, popsicles and in cake-decorating gels. It is an important dye used in the determination of cell viability and used as phosphorescent triplet probe to detect rotational diffusion of membrane proteins.
