Hamad S Alyami1 
,
Samer S Abu-Alrub2,
Mater H Mahnashi2,
Mohammad H Alyami1,
Osaid T Al Meanazel1
For correspondence:- Hamad Alyami Email: hsalmukalas@nu.edu.sa
Accepted: 6 August 2020 Published: 31 August 2020
Citation: Alyami HS, Abu-Alrub SS, Mahnashi MH, Alyami MH, Al Meanazel OT. Characterization and evaluation of the performance of starch and cellulose as excipients for direct compression technique. Trop J Pharm Res 2020; 19(8):1569-1576 doi: 10.4314/tjpr.v19i8.1
© 2020 The authors.
This is an Open Access article that uses a funding model which does not charge readers or their institutions for access and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0) and the Budapest Open Access Initiative (http://www.budapestopenaccessinitiative.org/read), which permit unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited..
Purpose: To investigate the influence of two often-used excipients (starch and microcrystalline cellulose) on the physical properties of powder blends and tablets that contain mannitol as diluent.
Methods: Powder and powder mixtures of three commonly used excipients (starch, mannitol and microcrystalline cellulose) were thoroughly examined using the angle of repose for flowability, particle size analyzer to determine the diameter of the particles, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) for morphological assessment, and x-ray diffraction to determine crystalline/amorphous characteristics. Tablets were prepared by direct compression technique and were evaluated for mechanical strength and disintegration behavior as part of quality control test.
Results: The results showed that increase in MCC concentration of the mixture leads to significantly enhanced flowability (p < 0.05) when compared to starch. The angle of repose for mannitol/MCC powder mixture with 70 % w/w MCC was approximately 29°, indicating good flow properties of the powder mix. Moreover, starch tablets containing MCC exhibited better mechanical strength and longer disintegration time, while, at 1:1 ratio of MCC and mannitol, tablet disintegration was faster (33.0 ± 5.2 s)
Conclusion: MCC (at 30 %w/w in the blend) produces optimal flow of the powder blend and superior mechanical strength.
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