Research Article Pectin from Okra (Abelmoschus esculentus L.) Has Potential as a Drug Release Modifier in Matrix Tablets Mariam El Boakye-Gyasi , 1 Frederick William Akuffo Owusu , 1 Philomena Entsie , 2 Jacob Kwaku Agbenorhevi , 3 Ben Kwaku Branoh Banful , 4 and Marcel Tunkumgnen Bayor 1 1 Department of Pharmaceutics, Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana 2 Department of Herbal Medicine, Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana 3 Department of Food Science and Technology, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana 4 Department of Horticulture, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana CorrespondenceshouldbeaddressedtoMariamElBoakye-Gyasi;melboakye-gyasi.pharm@knust.edu.gh Received 8 October 2020; Revised 21 December 2020; Accepted 30 December 2020; Published 18 January 2021 AcademicEditor:NirmalKumarSarkar Copyright © 2021 Mariam El Boakye-Gyasi et al. is is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Natural polymers have become attractive to pharmaceutical researchers and manufacturers as excipients because of the ad- vantagestheypossessrelativetotheirsemisyntheticandsyntheticcounterparts.Althoughpectinfromsomenaturalsourceshas beeninvestigatedforuseinthepharmaceuticalindustryasexcipients,pectinfromokra,whichisreadilyavailableandusedasfood inmanypartsoftheworld,hasnotbeenextensivelyinvestigatedasapotentialcontrol-releasingagentintablets.isstudythus seekstodeterminethedrugreleasemodifyingpropertiesofokrapectinfrom6differentgenotypesofokracultivatedandavailable in Ghana. Pectin was extracted from different genotypes of okra, physicochemical properties were characterized, and control releasematrixtabletsofmetformin(F1–F6)wereformulatedusingthewetgranulationmethodwiththeokrapectinasthedrug releasemodifier,respectively.edrugcontent, invitro drugrelease,andmathematicalkineticmodelingofdrugreleasefromthe matrixtabletswerestudied.Drugreleaseprofilesofformulatedmatrixtabletswerecomparedtoanexisting(innovator)brandof metforminsustained-releasetabletonthemarketusingthesimilarityanddifferencefactors,respectively.eextractedpectinhad percentageyieldsrangingfrom6to20%w/wwithswellingindexesandwater-holdingcapacitiesbetween300–500%and9-10mL/ g, respectively, and pH within 6.20–6.90. All the formulated batches passed the drug content test (90–105%) and produced the optimal release of metformin (>80%) after 24 hours. Different batches of formulated tablets exhibited different mechanisms of drugreleasewithbatchesF1,F2,F5,andF6beingsimilar(f 2 valuesbeing >50and f 1 values <15)totheinnovatorbrand.Pectin fromthe6differentgenotypesofokrastudiedhasthepotentialforuseasdrugreleasemodifiersinpharmaceuticalmanufacturing of control release matrix tablets and production of more affordable medicines. 1. Introduction Control release matrix tablets are designed to achieve a prolonged effect by continuously releasing the active pharmaceuticalingredient(API)overalongperiodoftime. is prolonged release effect is provided by an integral excipientofthematrixtabletknownasthereleasemodifier [1–3]. Many synthetic polymers are available for use as release modifiers in the manufacture of controlled-release tablets. However, currently, pharmaceutical scientists are extensively investigating natural polymers as potential and reliable sources of release modifiers in controlled release tablets due to their myriad of advantages such as biode- gradability,biocompatibility,lowcost,lowtoxicity,andeasy accessibility over synthetic and semisynthetic polymers [4–6]. Several studies have reported the potential of gum from different plants as promising release modifiers in the formulation of controlled release tablets [7, 8]. However, Hindawi e Scientific World Journal Volume 2021, Article ID 6672277, 10 pages https://doi.org/10.1155/2021/6672277