The purple color in MTT assay is due to formation of:
Purple color appearing in wells after MTT incubation arises from formation of formazan product 1-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-3,5-diphenylformazan. Enzymatic reduction transfers electrons from succinate via succinate dehydrogenase, NADH and NADPH to tetrazolium ring breaking positively charged quaternary nitrogen and producing neutral formazan with extensive conjugated double bond system delocalizing electrons, absorbing green-yellow wavelengths around 570 nm and appearing purple. Crystals observable microscopically as dark needle-like precipitates clustered around nucleus and in cytoplasm befor
Ref: Berridge et al Arch Biochem Biophys 2005 MTT formazan formation mechanism; Abcam MTT assay protocol formazan purple product succinate dehydrogenase.