There are various methods for mucus staining, such as AB-PAS staining, mucus HID-AB staining, standard Alcian blue staining, etc. Most of the above methods make use of the principle that Alcian is a cationic dye that can be combined with acidic groups, i.e., Alcian blue forms an insoluble complex with the anionic groups contained in the tissues, such as carboxyl groups and sulfate roots.

Mucin staining solution (asphaltene A heterodyeing method) is the use of asphaltene heterodyeing this characteristic, after staining the tissue or tissue components stained with color and the original color of the dye complex is obviously different and can form a sharp contrast, stained section processing is very important for the stability of heterodyeing staining, it is advisable to use ethanol preservation.