Magenta-Gal is used as an alternative to X-Gal, and produces a red color. Magenta-Gal is hydrolyzed by β-galactosidase to produce a red precipitate. This precipitate is insoluble in alcohol and xylenes, thus making it suitable for immunoblotting and immunocytochemical assays. Bacterial colonies containing active β-galactosidase produce red colonies when grown on plates containing Magenta-Gal.

Magenta-Gal is commonly used in conjunction with IPTG (GoldBIo #I2481) for red/white screening.

Magenta-β-D-GlcACHX is a white crystalline powder that is used as a chromogenic substrate for β-D-glucuronidase, yielding a magenta precipitate. It is used to detect β-D-glucuronidase positive bacterial colonies as an alternative to 5-bromo-4-chloro-3-indoxyl-β-glucuronide or X-GlcA.

N-alpha-Benzoyl-L-arginine ethyl ester hydrochloride is a substrate useful for trypsin determination. It also has a vasodilatory property in rat pulmonary artery and lung tissues.

N-Succinyl-L-alanyl-L-alanyl-L-prolyl-L-phenylalanine 4-nitroanilide is a colorimetric substrate for peptidyl prolyl isomerase, chymotrypsin and human leukocyte cathepsin G.

Phenyl-β-D-galactopyranoside is a noninducing β-galactosidase substrate. It is used in selection of mutants of lacZ plasmid-based transgenic mice. It is an acceptor substrate in fucosyltransferase detection.

Phosphoric ac, mono(4-nitrophenyl) ester is a chromogenic substrate used with ELISA and spectrophotometric assays for acid and alkaline phosphatase.