Title : Formulation and evaluation of tablet containing different variety of native starches
Abstract:
Starch is known to be one of the most abundant carbohydrate molecules found in tropical roots and tubers, grains, and cereals. Various botanical sources of starch, including maize, potato, corn, wheat, etc., have been used as a staple food for millions of people for centuries. There is a good source of starches in these tropical plants, and are underutilized but can be utilized as excipients in pharmaceutical preparations. In industry, starch is often used in the manufacture of tablets and other solid dosage forms. In addition to being used in tablets as a binder, it can also act as a disintegrant. The pharmaceutical industry generally utilizes starch obtained from maize and potato. Starch pastes are routinely prepared at a concentration of 5-20% during tablet manufacture. At concentrations between 5 and 15%, starch is useful as a disintegrant in many tablet formulations. In this study, native starches were tested for their disintegrant potential in paracetamol tablet formulations.
Using the wet granulation method, paracetamol tablets were prepared with different variety of native starches. Based on the compendial specifications, the physical, chemical, disintegrant properties, and dissolution profiles of the isolated starches were measured and evaluated.
Different variety of native starches were white, off-white, and pinkish in color, odorless, and fine in texture, with a polyhedral, oval, and irregular shape, resulting in passable to poor flowability and compatibility with the drug. All starches possess satisfactory values of different parameters such as amylose content (< 28.66), solubility (< 25.38), swelling power (< 26.86), and water absorption capacity (< 103.51). Furthermore, all tablets with different starches showed acceptable average tablet weight, hardness ( 
4kg), friability (< 1%), and disintegration time (< 15 min). The tablets passed the dissolution test for immediate release tablets (≥70% release in 45 min.
All native starches passed the physicochemical tests for starch and the quality control tests for acetaminophen (paracetamol) tablets. Therefore, they are suitable for use as economical and alternative sources of starch in pharmaceuticals. The major finding of this work is among all the native starches, one bean starch showed the properties as that of super disintegrant with a faster drug dissolution profile as compared to all other tested starches and marketed tablets.
