Glycogen staining is one of the routine staining methods in pathology. McManus was the first to use the periodate-schiff technique to show mucin in 1946, which is commonly used to show glycogen and other polysaccharides, and the technique shows not only glycogen, but also neutral mucinous substances and certain acidic substances. The combination of the Alisin Blue (also known as Alcian Blue, Aisin Blue, etc.) and PAS techniques can be used to identify neutral and acidic mucins in the same tissue section. This technique is also commonly used as a means of detecting a wide range of mucins, with sections stained with standard Alisin Blue (pH=2.5) before using the PAS technique. Alisin blue stains salivary mucins, sulfomucins, and proteoglycans blue, and the PAS technique stains neutral mucins a deep red or reddish-purple color, while tissues and cells containing both neutral and acidic mucins stain in varying shades of purple due to the binding and reaction of Alisin blue with Schiff's reagent. This staining is often seen in the cup cells of the small intestine, which contain both neutral and salivary mucins. The staining principle of Alisin Blue is based on the fact that it is a copper-titanium anthocyanine-like dye, a cationic dye that binds to acidic groups, i.e., Alisin Blue forms insoluble complexes with anionic groups such as carboxylate and sulfate contained in the tissue. The positively charged salt bonds in the molecule combine with the negatively charged acidic groups in the acidic mucopolysaccharide material to form an insoluble complex that is blue in color, which is then compounded and stained with PAS to reveal three different mucus material components.

The core components of AB-PAS staining solution are Alisin blue staining solution and Schiff reagent, which are mostly used for staining mucus substances, glycogen, neutral mucin, various glycoproteins are purple-red, and the rest are blue.