Drug Development and Industrial Pharmacy, 32:357–365, 2006 Copyright © Taylor & Francis Group, LLC ISSN: 0363-9045 print / 1520-5762 online DOI: 10.1080/03639040500519235 357 LDDI 0363-9045 1520-5762 Drug Development and Industrial Pharmacy, Vol. 32, No. 03, January 2006: pp. 0–0 Drug Development and Industrial Pharmacy Effects of Pigeon Pea and Plantain Starches on the Compressional, Mechanical, and Disintegration Properties of Paracetamol Tablets Pigeon Pea and Plantain Starches and Paracetamol Tablets K. Dare et al. Kunle Dare, Dorothy O. Akin-Ajani, Oluwatoyin A. Odeku and Oludele A. Itiola Department of Pharmaceutics & Industrial Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria Omotunde M. Odusote Department of Pharmaceutics & Pharmaceutical Technology, University of Lagos, Lagos, Nigeria Address correspondence to Dr. Oluwatoyin A. Odeku, Department of Pharmaceutics & Industrial Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria; Fax: 23428106403; E-mail: pejuodeku@yahoo.com ABSTRACT A study has been made of the effects of pigeon pea starch obtained from the plant Cajanus cajan (L) Millisp. (family Fabaceae) and plan- tain starch obtained from the unripe fruit of Musa paradisiaca L. (family Musaceae) on the compressional, mechanical, and disintegration properties of paracetamol tablets in comparison with official corn starch BP. Analysis of compressional properties was done by using density measurements, and the Heckel and Kawakita equations, whereas the mechanical properties of the tab- lets were evaluated by using tensile strength (T-a measure of bond strength) and brittle fracture index (BFI-a measure of lamination tendency). The ranking for the mean yield pressure, P y , for the formulations containing the different starches was generally corn < pigeon pea < plantain starch while the ranking for P k , an inverse measure of the amount of plasticity, was pigeon pea < plan- tain < corn starch, which indicated that formulations containing corn starch generally exhibited the fastest onset of plastic deformation, whereas those for- mulations containing pigeon pea starch exhibited the highest amount of plas- tic deformation during tableting. The tensile strength of the tablets increased with increase in concentration of the starches while the Brittle Fracture Index decreased. The ranking for T was pigeon pea > plantain > corn starch while the ranking for BFI was corn > plantain > pigeon pea starch. The bonding capacity of the formulations was in general agreement with the tensile strength results. The disintegration time (DT) of the formulation increased with con- centration of plantain and corn starches but decreased with concentration of pigeon pea starch. The general ranking of DT values was plantain < pigeon pea < corn starch. Notably, formulations containing pigeon pea starch exhib- ited the highest bond strength and lowest brittleness, suggesting the usefulness of pigeon pea starch in producing strong tablets with minimal lamination ten- dency. Plantain starch, on the other hand, would be more useful where faster disintegration of tablet is desired. The results show that the starches could be useful in various formulations depending on the intended use of the tablets with the implication that the experimental starches can be developed for com- mercial purposes. Drug Development and Industrial Pharmacy Downloaded from informahealthcare.com by ULB Bonn on 07/27/11 For personal use only.