Mayer's Hemalum Preparation and Recipe

To prepare

L of Mayer's Hemalum:

Change the value in the textbox above to scale the recipe volume

Table 1. Required components

Component	Amount	Concentration
aluminum potassium sulfate (KAl[SO4]2•12H2O) (mw: 474.39 g / mol)	#	#
hematoxylin (C.I. 75290) (mw: 302.28 g / mol)	#	#
sodium iodate (NaIO3) (mw: 197.89 g / mol)	#	#
citric acid (monohydrate) (mw: 210.14 g / mol)	#	#
chloral hydrate (mw: 165.4 g / mol)	#	#

Prepare 800 mL of distilled water in a suitable container.
Add # of aluminum potassium sulfate (KAl[SO4]2•12H2O) to the solution
Add # of hematoxylin (C.I. 75290) to the solution
Add # of sodium iodate (NaIO3) to the solution
Add # of citric acid (monohydrate) to the solution
Add # of chloral hydrate to the solution
A magnetic stirrer will hasten dissolving of the alum, hematoxylin, and hematein formed by iodate oxidation.
Add distilled water until the volume is 1 L.
Mayer's hemalum often keeps for 1 yr but some batches lose their potency after only a few months. The solution may be reused many times.

References

This online resource may be cited as follows

MLA	"Quest Calculate™ Mayer's Hemalum Preparation and Recipe." AAT Bioquest, Inc., 7 Nov. 2025, https://www.aatbio.com/resources/buffer-preparations-and-recipes/mayer-s-hemalum.
APA	AAT Bioquest, Inc. (2025, November 7). Quest Calculate™ Mayer's Hemalum Preparation and Recipe. AAT Bioquest. https://www.aatbio.com/resources/buffer-preparations-and-recipes/mayer-s-hemalum.
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