Natural Polymers for Pharmaceutical Applications

Volume 1: Plant-Derived Polymers

Amit Kumar Nayak, Md Saquib Hasnain, Dilipkumar Pal, Amit Kumar Nayak, Md Saquib Hasnain, Dilipkumar Pal

• Publisher: Apple Academic Press
• Year: 2019
• ISBN:
  9781000586824
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Pharmaceutical, Biotechnology & Healthcare Industry
• Index: Business

This new volume, Natural Polymers for Pharmaceutical Applications, Volume 1: Plant-Derived Polymers, presents some of the latest research on the applications of natural polymers in drug delivery and therapeutics for healthcare benefits. Polymers and their applications from several plants are discussed in depth, including tamarind gum, gum Arabic, natural carbohydrate polymer gum tragacanth, pectin, guar gum and its derivatives, locust bean gum, sterculia gum, okra gum, and others.

The use of the polymers derived from plants as potential pharmaceutical excipients is expanding day by day because of their stability in the biological system, drug-releasing capability, drug-targeting abilities, as well as their bioavailability.

CHAPTER 1

Pharmaceutical Applications of Tamarind Gum

AMIT KUMAR NAYAK,¹ SITANSU SEKHAR NANDA,² DONG KEE YI,² MD SAQUIB HASNAIN,³ and DILIPKUMAR PAL⁴

¹Department of Pharmaceutics, Seemanta Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Mayurbhanj – 757086, Odisha, India

²Department of Chemistry, Myongji University, Yongin, South Korea

³Department of Pharmacy, Shri Venkateshwara University, NH-24, Rajabpur, Gajraula, Amroha – 244236, U.P., India

⁴Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Guru Ghasidas Vishwavidyalaya, Koni, Bilaspur – 495009, C.G., India

ABSTRACT

Presently, diverse plant polysaccharides contemplated for various applications as excipients like suspending agents, granulating agents, binders, disintegrating agents, mucoadhesives, gel-formers, release modifiers, enteric resistant, matrix formers, emulsifiers, etc., in several pharmaceutical dosage applications. From this, tamarind gum (TmG) is a coming forth excipient, which is being applied and looked into for the formulation of several dosage forms like emulsions, suspensions, tablets, creams, gels, beads, microparticles, spheroids, nanoparticles, buccal patches, and ophthalmic preparations, etc. The chapter messes with a comprehensive and utilitarian discourse on pharmaceutical diligences of TmG with its some significant features like isolation, source, and chemical composition and attributes (both physicochemical and biological).

1.1 INTRODUCTION

Polysaccharides are high molecular weight polymers possess branched and complex molecular structures with various monosaccharide residues, linked with the O-glycosidic linkages (Pal and Nayak, 2015, 2017). These are hydrophilic and gel-former biopolymeric materials (Nayak et al., 2010, 2012). The current socio-economic position of the modernistic world has raised the interestingness in the use of natural polysaccharides, as the replacement of different synthetic biopolymers in useful biomedical applications (Hasnain et al., 2010; Nayak and Pal, 2012, 2015, 2016a). Natural polysaccharides prevail from the plant, algal, microbial, and animal origins (Pal and Nayak, 2016). Numerous natural polysaccharides are produced in vitro by a biotechnological enzymatic process. Plant polysaccharides are a popular natural biopolysaccharide group, which are less expensive, nontoxic, biodegradable, and widely available in the natural sources (Hasnain et al., 2017a, b, 2018a, b; Nayak and Pal, 2016b, 2017). These occur mainly in fruits, seeds, exudates materials, roots, leaves, pods, rhizomes, etc. (Nayak et al., 2018a, b, c; Prajapati et al., 2013). The fact of the increasing significance of the use of plant polysaccharides is related with its harvesting or cultivating in a sustained manner and able to offer a constant supply of raw materials (Nayak and Pal, 2013). The use of plant polysaccharides in pharmaceutical applications including drug delivery is developing from their traditional auxiliary function in formulations, and its dynamic roles as drug delivery excipient agents deal with stability, drug release, target specific therapeutic action, bioavailability (Nayak and Pal, 2017). Currently, an enormous number of plant polysaccharides have been produced from a number of ordinarily available local plants (Nayak et al., 2013a, b, c, 2014a, b, 2015; Sinha et al., 2015a). Even these plant polysaccharides have been employed in the formulation of numerous kinds of pharmaceutical products as excipients (Bera et al., 2015a, b, c; Das et al., 2013; Guru et al., 2013, 2018; Jena et al., 2018; Malakar et al., 2013; Prajapati et al., 2013; Sinha et al., 2015b). Among various plant polysaccharides, TmG is the galactoxylan, which is extracted from the tamarind kernel and have found its wide therapeutic actions in the pharmaceutical fields such as foods and cosmetics (Nayak, 2016; Shaikh et al., 2015). Recent years, TmG is practiced as necessitate pharmaceutical ingredients in diverse categories of dosage applications. This chapter relates with a useful and complete discourse on the pharmaceutical applications of TmG. Besides this, some significant features of TmG like isolation, source, chemical composition, and attributes (both physicochemical and biological) are also discussed in brief.

1.2 SOURCES AND ISOLATION

Tamarind (Tamarindus indica, family: Fabaceae) tree, commonly recognized as ‘Indian date,’ is an evergreen tree. Tamarind is cultivated throughout the whole of India and also, in other Southeast Asian countries (Nayak, 2016). Tamarind seed incorporates the endosperm or the kernel (70–75%), seed testa or coat (20–30%). Tamarind seeds contain 67.1 g/Kg crude fiber and huge contents of carbohydrates (Joseph et al., 2012). TmG is a cell wall storage material, present in the seed, and is separated from its seed powder (Nayak et al., 2016). The isolation method of TmG was first derived in the laboratory by Rao and Ghosh (1946). The procedure was improved by Rao and Srivastava (1973) and further modified by Nandi (1975) on the laboratory scale. Several researchers have demonstrated some other procedures of TmG isolation. Mainly, these procedures can be classified as chemical methods and enzymatic methods. In the chemical method, tamarind kernel powder is boiled with water. Then, the extracted mucilage is added to an equal amount of acetone to produce precipitation, which is collected and then, dried (Nayak et al., 2015). The dried powder is mixed with ethanol, processed with the enzyme protease and subsequently, centrifuged. The remaining supernatant portion is added to ethanol. The solution is dried and separated (Tattiyakul et al., 2010).

1.3 CHEMICAL COMPOSITION AND PROPERTIES

Chemically, TmG is a highly branched polysaccharide framed of (1 → 4)-β-D-glucan backbone exchanged with the side chains of α-D-xylopyranose and β-D-galactopyranosyl (1 → 2)-α-D-xylopyranose connected (1 → 6) to glucose remainders (Figure 1.1) (Nayak and Pal, 2011). Xylose remainders (1–6 linked) were replaced by almost 80% of glucose and partially substituted by the p-1-2 galactose residue (Manchanda et al., 2014). The molecular structure of TmG comprises some monomers of glucose, galactose, and xylose monomer units in 2.80: 1.00: 2.25 molar ratios (Kaur et al., 2012a). Thus, TmG is regarded as a galactoxyloglucan (Jana et al., 2013). It is biocompatible, noncarcinogenic, and stable in the acidic pH (Manchanda et al., 2014; Nayak, 2016). However, it is insoluble in the organic solvents and in the cold water (Nayak et al., 2015, 2016). Native TmG exhibits a tendency of aggregation when aqueous solvents take part in circulation. The aggregates dwell of lateral fabrications of single polysaccharide filaments showing behavior. This can be comfortably described by Kuhn’s model or by the worm-like chain (Joseph et al., 2012). It has an excellent ability to swell in the aqueous medium and produces the mucilaginous solution (Kaur et al., 2012). Therefore, it has hydrophilic, gel-forming, and bioadhesive properties (Pal and Nayak, 2012). Because of these properties, it is also in preparation of hydrogels (Meenakshi and Ahuja, 2015). TmG is found non-irritant with hemostatic activity (Avachat et al., 2011). It has shown hepatoprotective activity, also (Samal and Dang, 2014).

FIGURE 1.1 Chemical structure of TmG.

1.4 PHARMACEUTICAL APPLICATIONS

Presently, a diverse kinds of plant polysaccharides contemplated for various applications as pharmaceutical and drug delivery excipients like suspending agents, granulating agents, binders, disintegrating agents, mucoadhesives, gel-formers, release modifiers, enteric resistant, matrix formers, emulsifiers, etc., in several dosage forms (Prajapati et al., 2013; Biswas and Sahoo, 2016; Nayak and Pal, 2017; Pal et al., 2010). Among these plant polysaccharides, TmG is emerging as a potential biopolymeric excipient material for the pharmaceutical applications. The use of TmG for the preparation of diverse pharmaceutical dosage forms is discussed below.

1.5 EMULSIONS AND SUSPENSIONS

TmG was also studied as an emulsifier in various preparations of emulsions. In an investigation by Kumar et al., (2001), a comparative study on the castor oil emulsions with using TmG and gum acacia (GA) (a commonly used emulsifier as standard) as emulsifiers demonstrated the effectiveness of 2% w/v of TmG than 10% w/v of GA.

TmG was also exploited as suspending agents in various pharmaceutical suspensions (Deveswaran et al., 2010; Malaviya et al., 2010). In these fields, researchers have found the suitability of TmG as suspending agent to produce stable suspensions. It was found to reduce the settling rate of solid particles of these prepared suspensions and to permit also in the easy redispersion of any settled particles (Deveswaran et al., 2010). In an investigation, the suspending characteristics of TmG in a paracetamol suspension were compared with some ordinarily applied suspending agents like tragacanth (Trag), gelatin, and Arabica gum (Malaviya et al., 2010). From these investigations, a promise in the use of TmG as a suspending agent in the pharmaceutical suspension was indicated.

1.6 TABLETS

TmG was already studied as excipients like binders, matrix formers, and release modifiers in various kinds of pharmaceutical tablet formulations. It was investigated as an effective binder material for the weight granulation and the direct compression in various tablets (Kulkarni et al., 2011). When the tablet binding character of TmGin pharmaceutical tablets for various types of drugs was studied, it was observed that these tablets exhibited slower drug release profiles. This was attributed to the hydrophilicity, viscosity, and higher swelling of TmG.

TmG was also studied as matrix formers in the matrix tablets containing drugs of various molecular weights (Joseph et al., 2012). In most of the cases, matrix tablets are formulated to make sustained drug releasing or controlled drug releasing formulations for which these require release modifiers or release retardants. Owing to its hydrophilic characteristics, TmG was extensively used in various matrix tablets as matrix formers as well as release retardants (Chanda and Roy, 2010; Km and Arul, 2016; Mali and Dhawale, 2016; Phani Kumar et al., 2011). Along with the sustained drug-releasing pattern, some matrix tablets composed of TmG exhibited a mucoadhesive property, which was found helpful in the gastroretentive drug delivery (Mali and Dhawale, 2016; Rajab et al., 2012). Table 1.1 presents some examples of tab...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• About the Editors
• Table of Contents
• Contributors
• Abbreviations
• Preface
• 1. Pharmaceutical Applications of Tamarind Gum
• 2. Pharmaceutical Applications of Gum Arabic
• 3. Recent Advances in Pharmaceutical Applications of Natural Carbohydrate Polymer Gum Tragacanth
• 4. Application Potential of Pectin in Drug Delivery
• 5. Guar Gum and Its Derivatives: Pharmaceutical Applications
• 6. Pharmaceutical Applications of Locust Bean Gum
• 7. Pharmaceutical Applications of Sterculia Gum
• 8. Pharmaceutical Applications of Okra Gum
• 9. Pharmaceutical Applications of Fenugreek Seed Gum
• Index