magnus A Iwuagwu , Anthony O Onyekweli

For correspondence:-  magnus Iwuagwu   Email: magnusiwuagwu114@hotmail.com

Published: 21 June 2002

Citation: Iwuagwu mA, Onyekweli AO. Preliminary investigation into the use of Pleurotus tuber-regium powder as a tablet disintegrant. Trop J Pharm Res 2002; 1(1):29-37 doi: 10.4314/tjpr.v1i1.5

© 2002 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..

Abstract

Purpose:  This  investigation aims  at  developing a pharmaceutical  excipient from local  sources. Pleurotus  tuber-regium powder  is  used  locally  as  a  soup  thickener  because of  its  ability  to  swell in water and add bulk to the soup. Since swelling is one of the mechanisms of action of some tablet disintegrants it was thought that the powder of P. tuber regium would be able to act as a tablet disintegrant.
Method:  The  powder  obtained  from the  mycelia of the edible giant  mushroom,  Pleurotus  tuberregium  was characterised. Its  disintegrant  ability  in  comparison  with  maize  starch  BP  was investigated in paracetamol tablets prepared via the wet granulation method.
Results:  P. tuber-regium  and  maize  starch  BP  have  similar  true,  bulk  and  tapped density values.  The  Pleurotus  powder,  however,  showed  superior  flow,  swelling  capacity  as  well  as water  retention  capacity  to  maize  starch  BP.  The  swelling  capacity  was  three  times  that  of  maize starch  BP.  Tablets  prepared  with  P. tuber-regium  powder  disintegrated  faster  than  those prepared  with  maize  starch  BP  at  concentrations  below  10%  w/w.  At the disintegrant concentration of 10% w/w paracetamol  tablets made from both Pleurotus powder and maize starch BP had similar disintegration times and dissolution profiles. It is believed that the ability of  Pleurotus  powder  to  swell  by  over  three  times  its volume  in  the presence of  water  may  explain its ability to function as a tablet disintegrant.
Conclusion:  Pleurotus tuber-regium powder  may therefore be  used as an alternative to maize starch BP as a tablet disintegrant.