*Corresponding Author Address: Hardik Makwana, Parul Institute of pharmacy, Vadodara, India; Email id: hardik_makwana58@ymail.com World Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences ISSN (Print): 2321-3310; ISSN (Online): 2321-3086 Published by Atom and Cell Publishers © All Rights Reserved Available online at: http://www.wjpsonline.org/ Original Article Formulation, optmization and evaluation of taste masked oral disintegrating tablet of verapamil HCL Hardik Makwana 1* , Parag Patel 1 , Prashant Patel 2 , Bhawankumar P. Patel 3 1 Parul Institute of pharmacy, Limda, Vadodara, India 2 Mercury laboratories limited, Vadodara, India 3 Rowan University, Glassboro, NJ.08028 Received: 29-04-2015 / Revised: 18-05-2015 / Accepted: 20-05-2015 ABSTRACT Verapamil HCl is calcium channel blocker used for the treatment of hypertension, irregular heartbeat, angina, and to control the systolic and diastolic blood pressure. As Verapamil HCl is bitter in taste, taste masking is required for preparing oral disintegrating tablet. To mask the taste we used resin Indion 234. Oral disintegrating Tablets were made using various superdisintegrants (crosspovidone, SSG, Kyron T 314) at 3 different concentration with three different ratio (Drug: Indion 234) 1:1, 1:2, 1:3 of drug and resin equivalent to 40mg form a Drug Resin complex (DRC). Crosspovidone shows the best disintegration time and it is further used for the formulation of the tablets. All the formulations were evaluated for parameters such as hardness, friability, disintegration time, in vitro drug release. An effective formulation F8 having hardness 4.1 kg/cm 2 , disintegration time of 21sec. and in vitro drug release of 98.87% after 20min. The bitterness scale 0.6 confirmed by study on human volunteers. The taste masking of the drug confirmed by FTIR, DSC study and the in vitro release of the DRC Key word: Oral Disintegrating Tablet, Superdisintegrants, Indion 234, Drug Resin complex. INTRODUCTION Hypertension is according to WHO it is the state of body in which systolic blood pressure is 150 mmHg and diastolic blood pressure is 95 mmHg or more. Hypertension is usually defined by the presence of a chronic elevation of systemic arterial pressure above a certain threshold value.[1] However, increasing evidence indicates that the cardiovascular (CV) risk associated with elevation of blood pressure (BP) above approximatel y 115 ⁄ 75 mm Hg arises in a log-linear fashion. Hypertension is a progressive CV syndrome. Early symptoms of the syndrome are often present before BP elevation is sustained; therefore, hypertension cannot be classified solely by discrete BP thresholds values. Progression is strongly associated with functional and structural cardiac and vascular abnormalities that damage the heart, kidneys, brain, vasculature, and other organs and lead to premature morbidity and death also. Decrease in BP when target organ damage is demonstrable or the functional precursor of target organ damage is present and still reversible generally reduces the risk for CV disease. Calcium channel blockers are the type of drugs which are used to treat the elevated blood pressure. They act by slowing the movement of the calcium ion in to the smooth muscle of the heart and blood vessel walls which makes comfortable for the blood vessel to pump out the blood easily the result is that heart dosen’t have to work hard and it lowers the blood pressure. Calcium channel blocker have added benefit that slowing the heart rate which can further reduce blood pressure and reduces the chest pain.[2,3,4] Verapamil hydrochloride is a calcium ion influx inhibitor (slow-channel blocker or calcium ion antagonist) that exerts its pharmacologic effects by modulating the influx of ionic calcium across the cell membrane of the arterial smooth muscle. Calcium channel blocker binding to L-type calcium channel and reducing calcium flux. Here muscle does not respond calcium ion signal, Relaxes smooth muscle of heart and slow down the elevated blood pressure. Long-acting medications are slowly released and helpful to provide a longer lasting