PHYSICOCHEMICAL EVALUATION OF alpha-CELLULOSE OBTAINED FROM DESTARCHED WHITE AND YELLOW MAIZE CHAFF II: DISINTEGRANT PROPERTIES

Authors: *Eraga S.O, Mbong D.E, Iwuagwu M.A

DOI Info: N/A

ABSTRACT

The disintegrant property of cellulose extracted from destarched white and yellow maize chaff in comparison with microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) and maize starch in paracetamol tablet formulations has been investigated. Alpha-cellulose powders were extracted from dried white and yellow maize chaff by acid delignification. At varying concentrations (25-75 %w/w), the alpha-cellulose was used as a filler to formulate paracetamol tablets by direct compression. Also, at different disintegrant concentrations (2.5-10 %w/w) and volumes of granulating fluid (7.5 and 10 ml), the alpha-cellulose, MCC and maize starch were used to formulate a set of paracetamol tablets by wet granulation method. Various tablets’ parameters (tablet weight, hardness, friability, disintegration time and dissolution) were evaluated for the formulated tablets. Drug-excipient interaction was investigated using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Results from the evaluation of tablets showed that the tablets had uniform weight, hardness > 4.0 kp and friability < 1.0%. The tablets exhibited excellent disintegration times of < 60 seconds except those formulated by wet granulation at disintegrant concentration of 2.5%w/w. The tablets passed the BP dissolution test for tablets except those formulated by direct compression at 25%w/w and wet granulation at 2.5%w/w disintegrant concentrations. Granulation fluid volume did not affect the tablet parameters except hardness which increased with increased fluid volume. FTIR and DSC analyses revealed no interaction between paracetamol and the excipients. The cellulose powders had disintegrant ability which compared favourably with maize starch but inferior to microcrystalline cellulose. The powders may prove a useful substitute for maize starch as tablet disintegrant at concentrations greater than 5%w/w.

Download Full Text