Description

Abstract
The objective of this work was to develop an efficient direct compression tabletting excipient of coprocessed particles of maize starch (MS) and acacia gum (Ac) by co-drying their well dispersed aqueous mixtures. Weighed quantities of MS and Ac in various mixing ratios of 97.5:2.5, 95:5, 92.5:7.5 and 90:10 were used to form the coprocessed excipients (StarAc). Two forms of the StarAc were produced using fully and partially pregelatinization methods. The StarAc thus produced were evaluated for powder properties namely, bulk and tapped density, angle of repose, flow rate, Carr’s index and Hausner’s ratio. Tabletting properties namely; weight variation, thickness and diameter, crushing strength, friability and disintegration time of placebo tablets produced with StarAcs were also evaluated. The results of physical properties evaluation revealed that the various coprocessed excipients (StarAc) have good flowability. The fully pregelatinized form of StarAc showed superior flowability when compared with the partially pregelatinized form. However, the results of tablet properties of placebo tablets made using StarAc showed that tablets made using the partial pregelatinization method had good crushing strength/friability profile and acceptable tablet disintegration time. In contrast, tablets produced using fully pregelatinized method did not produce tablets with acceptable quality in terms of strength and friability. Therefore, the partially pregelatinization method was chosen as the preffered method of coprocessing maize starch and acacia. Partially pregelatinized coprocessed excipients of MS and Ac could be developed for use in direct compression tabletting.

Keywords: Co-processed excipients, Maize starch, Acacia gum, StarAc, pregelatinization direct compression, tablets.