Samanea saman: A Novel Mucoadhesive Gum

Abstract

Natural polymers are the most accepted pharmaceutical excipients of formulator’s choice. The reasons for this are their cost effectiveness, biocompatibility and availability. In this research article natural gum was extracted from the seeds of Samanea saman by using ethanol as a solvent. The physicochemical characterization like Loss on drying, Total ash and Acid insoluble ash, Swelling Index, Viscosity and qualitative evaluation of purified gum was done. The percent yield of gum was found to 6% w/w and the swelling index was found to be 18.5. Total ash value (7.5% w/w) and Acid insoluble ash value (1.4%w/w) shows purity of gum whereas 3.2% w/w loss on drying suggest low moisture content of gum. Chemical evaluation shows presence of carbohydrate. X ray diffraction graph of gum shows crystalline nature. The gum has average particle size 45.0±0.32 to 50±0.18μm, and the surface texture of the particles was found to be rough and irregular by scanning Electron Microscopy. Mucoadhesive property of gum was evaluated by Swelling index, Mucoadhesive force, Shear stress measurement. For this study polymeric tablet of gum with concentrations like 10%, 30%, 50%, 70% and 90 %w/w were formulated and the results shows best mucoadhesive and swelling property. From the above result the gum may be used in the formulation of mucoadhesive dosage form.