Stem gum of Moringa oleifera as pharmaceutical excipient

The herbal gum exudates from the stem of Moringa oleifera Lam. is sparingly soluble in water but swells in contact with water, giving a highly viscous solution. It consists of arabinose, galactose, and glucoronic acid. In the present study the formulation of paracetamol tablets by using Moringa oleifera gum as a binder was performed. The four different tablet formulations loaded drug as paracetamol were prepared by wet granulation method. The binder concentrations used in the formulation were 2, 4, 6 & 8% w/w of Moringa oleifera gum. Tablets were subjected for evaluation of hardness, friability, drug content uniformity. The preliminary evaluation for granules was done by measuring the granule size, angle of repose and percentage fines. The percent friability was in the range and tablet showed 98% to 99% of labeled amount of paracetamol indicating uniformity in drug content with 6 to 20min disintegration time and more than 90% dissolution at 80 to 90min. Tablets at 6% w/w binder concentration showed more optimum results as tablet binder. Paracetamol tablets were prepared using newly developed herbal gums as binder for the controlled release. The results indicated that tablets were successfully formed and displayed good binding properties to become the new source of binder. The herbal gums obtained from Moringa oleifera stem gum could be utilized in the development new pharmaceutical formulations.