Evaluation of Prosopis africana gum in the formulation of gels

Prosopis africana gum was evaluated for use in the formulation of gels. The rate of release of salicylic acid from gels prepared from prosoopis gum was investigated. The rate of permeation of the drug through the gel was also evaluated. Surfactants were incorporated into the gels and the effect on the release and permeation was also investigated. Tragacanth gum gel was also prepared and used as the standard. The release and permeation of the drug from the gel was low. Incorporation of surfactants did not enhance the release of the drug. However the low release and permeation rates may be due to the poor water solubility of the incorporated drug. Correlation of the quantity of drug released with viscosity shows that drug release was dependent on the viscosity of the gels; the highly viscous gels showed slower release rates.