International Journal of PharmTech Research CODEN( USA): IJPRIF ISSN : 0974-4304 Vol.1, No.3, pp 658-665 , July-Sept 2009 Evaluation of Abelmoschus Esculentus Mucilage as Suspending Agent in Paracetamol Suspension Ravi Kumar* 1 , M. B. Patil 2 , Sachin R. Patil 1 , Mahesh S. Paschapur 3 1 Department of Pharmaceutics, K.L.E.S’s College of Pharmacy,Ankola 581314,India, 2 Department of Pharmacognosy, K.L.E.S’s College of Pharmacy, Ankola 581314, India, 3 Department of Pharmacology, K.L.E.S’s College of Pharmacy, Ankola-581314,India. * E-mail: ravikumar300@gmail.com ABSTRACT : Some excipients are currently available for the formulation of Pharmaceutical suspensions. The purpose of this study is to search for a cheap and effective natural excipient that can be used as an effective alternative for the formulation of pharmaceutical suspensions. The mucilage from the pods of Abelmoschus esculentus was subjected to preformulation study for evaluation of its safety and suitability for use as suspending agent. The mucilage extracted is devoid of toxicity. Suspensions of paracetamol were prepared and compared with different concentrations (1%, 2%, 3% and 4% w/v) of Abelmoschus esculentus mucilage, sodium CMC and tragacanth gum. Their sedimentation profile, redispersibility, degree of flocculation and rheolgical behavior were compared. The mucilage was found to be a superior suspending agent than tragacanth and is comparable to sodium CMC. Studies indicate that the mucilage of Abelmoschus esculentus may be used as a pharmaceutical adjuvant and as a suspending agent at 4%w/v, depending on its suspending ability and the stability of the resulting suspension. KEYWORDS: Abelmoschus esculentus, suspending agents, sedimentation volume, rheology, degree of flocculation. INTRODUCTION A pharmaceutical suspension, like other disperse systems, is thermodynamically unstable, thus, making it necessary to include in the dosage form, a stabilizer or suspending agent which reduces the rate of settling and permits easy redispersion of any settled particulate matter both by protective colloidal action and by increasing the consistency of the suspending medium 1-3 . Suspending agents are(i) inorganic materials, (ii) synthetic compounds, or (iii) polysaccharides. Natural gums like Acacia, Tragacanth, Khaya, Karaya and Abelmoschus esculentus belong to the latter group 4 . Gums have been wildly used as tablet binders, emulgents and thickeners in cosmetics and suspensions as film-forming agents and transitional colloids. Gums are widely employed in the pharmacy as thickeners, suspending agents, emulsifying agents, binders and film formers. With the increase in demand for natural gums, it has been necessary to explore the newer sources of gums to meet the industrial demands. India, due to its geographical and environmental positioning has traditionally been a good source for such products among the Asian countries 5 . There are reports about the successful use of Ocimum gratissimum, Butea monospermama, Albizia zygia gum and Leucaena leucocephala seed gum as suspending agent 6-9. Gum of the Abelmoschus esculentus pods has been reported to have binder potential for tablet formulations 10 . The fresh fruits of Abelmoschus esculentus (L.) are a common component of Indian diet. In addition, the plant has been used medicinally in treatment of several disorders 11-12 . Anti-cancer, anti- microbial and hypoglycemic activities of plant are reported 13-14 . The anti-ulcer activity of fresh fruits is recently reported 15 . This is a coarse, erect, branched, more or less hairy, annual herb 0.6 to 1.5 meters in height, which is grown widely in India. The only published work so for on the potential application of this gum as a binder in tablet formulation was on sodium salicylates, a highly water soluble drug that is no longer in therapeutic usage. The present work is an attempt to extract and investigate the pharmaceutical properties of the gum to assess its suitability as a suspending agent in the pharmaceutical formulation. Suspending ability and suspension stability were used as the basis for evaluating the performance of Abelmoschus esculentus mucilage as a suspending agent.