Native starch in tablet formulations: properties on compaction.

Area of Science:

• Pharmaceutical Sciences
• Materials Science

Background:

• Starches are widely used as excipients in pharmaceutical formulations.
• Understanding starch properties is crucial for optimizing tablet manufacturing processes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate and compare the direct compression properties of maize, potato, rice, and tapioca (cassava) starches.
• To assess the impact of magnesium stearate and moisture content on starch compactibility and tablet strength.

Main Methods:

• Direct compression evaluation of four different starches.
• Assessment of compactibility, binding capacity, and lubricant sensitivity.
• Analysis of the effect of equilibrium moisture content on powder properties.
• Investigation of granulation effects on rice starch.

Main Results:

• Rice starch exhibited significantly better compactibility and binder stability with magnesium stearate compared to other starches.
• Tablet strength was influenced by the equilibrium moisture content, which depends on relative humidity.
• All starches possessed adequate water uptake for disintegration.
• Rice starch had poor flowability due to fine particle size, but granulation improved its suitability as a filler-binder.

Conclusions:

• Rice starch is a promising candidate for direct compression tablet formulations, offering superior compactibility and lubricant tolerance.
• Moisture content is a critical factor affecting starch compactibility.
• Granulation is an effective method to improve the processing characteristics of rice starch for direct compression.