Acta Pharm. 53 (2003) 231-237

The effect of starches on mechanical properties of paracetamol tablet formulations. I. Pregelatinization of starch binders

GBENGA ALEBIOWU ^1* and OLUDELE ADELANWA ITIOLA²

galebiowu@yahoo.co.uk

¹Department of Pharmaceutics, Faculty of Pharmacy, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria
²Department of Pharmaceutics and Industrial Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria

A study has been made of the effects of pregelatinization of native sorghum and plantain starches on the mechanical properties of a paracetamol tablet formulation in comparison with corn starch BP. The mechanical properties tested, viz. tensile strength (T) and brittle fracture ndex (BFI) of the paracetamol tablets were affected by pregelatinization of the starch. The results suggest that pregelatinized starches may be useful as binders when a particular degree of bond strength and brittleness is desired.

Keywords: starch, sorghum, plantain, pregelatinization, tensile strength, brittle fracture index

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