Abstract
Gum odina and various parts of the plant Odina wodier are traditionally used in Indian folk me- dicine. Here an effort was made to investigate the efficacy of gum odina as new pharmaceutical excipients, in particular, as an emulsifying agent. Primary emulsion was prepared using wet gum method taking oil: water: gum (4:2:1) with gum acacia powder as an emulsifying agent. This was used as a standard control formulation. In case of experimental emulsions the primary emulsion was prepared by same wet gum technique taking oil: water: gum (4:2:0.5) (gum content was just a half of gum acacia) by using gum odina powder as an emulsifier. The gum odina as emulsifying agent provided a stable emulsion at a very low concentration as compared to the amount required for other con- ventional natural emulsifying agents. Stability studies of the emulsion were made as per the ICH guideline to study thermal stability, photo- sensitivity, pH related stability and stability in presence of oxygen. The emulsion type was identified by staining techniques (dye test by using Sudan III) as o/w type preparation without creaming or cracking even after long storage for 24 months at 25°C. It was found that the emulsion containing gum odina produced more stable emulsion at a much lower amount as compared to the emulsion stabilized by gum acacia.
Highlights
Use of various gums as pharmaceutical excipients is nothing new
The various parts of Odina wodier have been used in Ayurveda and traditional Indian folk medicine (24)
In the present study we have mainly focused on the utility of the gum as an emulsifying agent of natural origin and the stability aspects of emulsions prepared using this emulsifying agent
Summary
Use of various gums as pharmaceutical excipients is nothing new. As a stabilizer and thickening agent, use of natural gum has been found in the literature about five thousand years back [1]. The solution dries up in contact with sunlight and air and a hard transparent brown-tint glass like mass is formed. This solid exudation is commonly known as natural gum [4,5]. Gum acacia is still used as a suspending agent, emulsifier, adhesive and tablet binding agent [9,10,11]. In cosmetic industry it is used as a stabilizer in lotions and protective creams, where it increases viscosity, imparts spreading properties and maintains a protective coating [4]
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