Indian Journal of Natural Products and Resources Vol. 6(1), March 2015 pp. 42-50 Microcrystalline cellulose powder from banana pseudostem fibres using bio-chemical route N Shanmugam*, R D Nagarkar and Manisha Kurhade ICAR-Central Institute for Research on Cotton Technology (CIRCOT), Adenwala Road, Matunga, Mumbai-400 019, Maharashtra, India Received 14 February 2014; Accepted December 2014 Microcrystalline cellulose powder was prepared from banana pseudostem fibres. The conventional method for preparing cellulose powder requires cooking of raw material with high concentration of alkali followed by washing, bleaching and grinding. In this study cellulose powder was prepared by a method which was developed by CIRCOT in which raw material (banana fibres) were subjected to anaerobic treatment in the presence of microbial consortium for 7 days at room temperature. Fibres were washed with water and cooked in 1 % alkali at 100 o C for 30 min. followed by bleaching and thorough washing. Hydrolysis of bleached pulp was carried out using 2.5N HCl to get the microcrystalline cellulose powder and studied the properties of the produced cellulose powder such as moisture content, ash content, cellulose content, starch content, pH value, solubility, degree of polymerization, molecular weight, particle size, degree of compressibility, x-ray crystalinity and infrared spectroscopy. Microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) powder prepared from banana fibres has properties at par with commercial grade MCC. Keywords: Pseudostem, Banana fibres, Anaerobic treatment, Microcrystalline cellulose. IPC code; Int. cl. (2014.01)-A61K 36/00 Introduction During the past decade, there has been a dramatic increase in cellulose research due to significant advances in cellulosic modifications (mechanical, chemical and enzymatic) and subsequent development of products with unique chemical and physical properties. This renewed focus on cellulose and its derivatives is based on several factors, such as the increased awareness of the availability of cellulose sources, for example agricultural waste products, the development of new solvent systems for cellulose activation/solublization and the development of region-selective modification methodologies 1,2 . Cellulose is used widely as a raw material for a number of excipients used in the pharmaceutical industry. Microcrystalline cellulose (MCC), a purified, partially depolymerised, non-fibrous form of cellulose, is perhaps the best filler-binder currently available. MCC is available from different manufacturers having different trade names. MCC is prepared by hydrolyzing native α-cellulose, a fibrous, semi-crystalline material, with dilute mineral acids. During hydrolysis, the accessible amorphous regions are hydrolyzed and a lower degree of polymerization product is obtained. Generally, it is understood that the differences in the properties of MCC between different manufacturers are due to the type of pulp used as raw material and processing conditions. Since cellulose from different sources have different properties it is expected that MCC obtained from different sources would also have different properties. These differences can affect their functionality when used as excipients. Excipients are generally chosen based on their compatibility and functionality to ensure the stability and bioavailability of the finished drug, as well as, the potential for large scale manufacturing. The chemical composition and physical structure of MCC depends significantly on the characteristics of the raw material used and the processing conditions 3 . MCC works as an excellent filler/binder and exhibits a high dilution potential 4 . Preparation of MCC from materials other than wood pulp and cottons linters such as reed stalks, wheat and rice straws, jute, water hyacinth, sugarcane bagasse, coconut shells, Indian bamboo, soybean husk, luffa fibers, flax straws, cotton stalks, groundnut husk and —————— Correspondent author: E-mail: dr.shanmugam@gmail.com Phone: 022-24127273 Fax: 22-24130835