EVALUATING OF EFFERVESCENT TABLETS CONTAINING GRAPE SEED (VITIS VINIFERA L.) EXTRACT AS A NUTRACEUTICAL

Objective: Grape is one of the most well-known fruits. People usually consume only the fruit and the skin; however, the seed is the part of the fruitthat contains important antioxidant rich polyphenol. However, grape seed and its extract have an unpleasant taste. Therefore, this study aimed toformulate effervescent tablets containing grape seed extract (GSE) to overcome the unpleasant taste.Methods: Effervescent tablets of GSE were formulated using three formulas, each with a different percentage of the effervescent mix. The tablets wereprepared using wet granulation method at 40% relative humidity (RH) (the ratio of the partial pressure of water vapor to the equilibrium vapor pressure ofwater) and 25°C temperature. The effervescent granules and the tablets were evaluated for various characteristics in term of granules flowability, moisturecontent, as well as tablets appearance, size and weight uniformity, hardness, friability, effervescence time, pH, and total phenol content. In addition, all threeformulations of the effervescent tablets and solutions were evaluated for appearance, taste, and flavor using the hedonic test that involved 30 panelists.Results: The evaluation of the effervescent granules and tablets showed that they had good characteristics. The disintegration time of the threeformulations was within the acceptable range, between 3.67 minutes and 4.69 minutes. The pH of the effervescent solution was between 5.18 and5.80. Based on the hedonic test, all the effervescent solutions had favorable appearance, taste, and flavor.Conclusions: Clinical Streptococcus salivarius isolates from the dorsum of the tongue had greater potential for inhibiting Enterococcus faecalis growthcompared to the saliva isolates and control bacteria. Therefore, we can conclude that the effervescent tablets containing grape seed extract arepotential be used as a nutraceutical dosage form