ISOLATION AND EVALUATION OF SEED COAT CONSTITUENTS OF MORINGA OLEIFERA

Traditionally, Moringa oleifera seed powder has been used as eco-friendly clarifying agent for drinking water. Natural polysaccharides are widely used as excipients in pharmaceutical industry. In the present In vitro study, starch and protein-mucilage fractions were isolated from the seed coats of Moringa oleifera. The isolated fractions were evaluated as binder and disintegrant in the preparation of paracetamol tablets. The prepared tablets were assessed for comparative In vitro quality control parameters such as weight variation, hardness, friability and disintegration time. The parameters were compared with paracetamol tablets prepared using potato starch as binder and disintegrant. Significant variation was observed in hardness, friability, and disintegration time among three formulations. Paracetamol tablets with protein-mucilage fraction were found to be relatively harder, less friable, and taking more time to disintegrate than the tablets made with potato starch. The tablets with isolated starch fraction were found to be almost similar to tablets prepared with potato starch with respect to hardness, friability and disintegration time. The isolated starch fraction and protein-mucilage fractions exhibited good binding and disintegrating properties and were natural in origin, nontoxic, biodegradable and bio compatible. Hence, they could be employed as binding and disintegrating agents in the formulation of paracetamol immediate release dosage forms. Since the protein fraction showed relatively higher values of hardness and disintegration time with less friability and could be explored for designing sustained release paracetamol tablets. Key words: Moringa seeds, starch fraction, protein-mucilage fraction, Paracetamol tablets, binder and disintegrant Â