CHARACTERIZATION AND EVALUATION OF THE BINDING PROPERTY OF THE MUCILAGE EXTRACTED FROM THE FRUIT OF PHOENIX DACTYLIFERA IN PARACETAMOL TABLET FORMULATIONS

Abstract

The search for new pharmaceutical excipients with comparable or better properties than the existing ones remains an
integral part of research in Pharmaceutics. This study is aimed at extracting, characterizing and investigating the
binding property of Phoenix dactylifera fruit mucilage in the formulation of paracetamol tablets. The dried date palm
fruit was kept in the shade for two days and the seeds were removed before grinding the fruit in a blender. The resulting
powder (500 g) was then hydrated in 15 L of distilled water and allowed to stand for 12 h before filtering through
multiple layers of muslin cloth. The resulting mucilage was precipitated with 6 L of acetone. The organoleptic and
physicochemical properties of the mucilage were determined by standard methods. Paracetamol granules were prepared
by wet granulation method and were thereafter characterized before compressing into tablets. The tablets produced were
evaluated for weight uniformity, tablet thickness and diameter, hardness and friability, disintegration and dissolution
times in a quality control analysis. The mucilage exhibited a characteristic odour, colour and taste and is moderately
coarse in texture. The mucilage also exhibited temperature dependent water solubility but was however insoluble in
acetone and ethanol. The powdered mucilage exhibited good flow when characterized by density measurements using
Hausner’s ratio (1.13), Carr’s index (13.59 %) and the angle of repose (33.03 ⁰). The formulated tablets conformed to
the required specifications as stated in the official compendium except at 2.5 % w/w binder concentration which failed
the friability test. All the tablets disintegrated within 5 min and passed the dissolution test. The results of this study
showed that Phoenix dactylifera mucilage has good flow and binding properties thus, it can be used as an alternative
binder in tablet formulations.