Bromocresol purple is used in medical laboratories to measure albumin, and as an addition to acid stop baths used in photographic processing as an indicator that the bath has reached neutral pH and needs to be replaced.bromocresol purple is used for spectrophotometric determination of serum-albumin.

Function:
1. Used as an acid-base indicator with a pH change range of 3.8 (yellow) to 5.4 (blue-green). The sodium salt aqueous solution is used for spectrophotometric determination of the enthalpy of the developer.
2. As a reagent for the determination of aliphatic hydroxy acids and alkaloids by thin layer chromatography and an extractive separating agent for the determination of quaternary ammonium cations by photometry.