Abstract

Sriaandhal Sabalingam, Umali Apsara Dharmawansha, Malitha Aravinda Siriwardhene*, Jayantha Wijayabandara and Walisinghe Pathirana

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to investigate purified cashew gum as a binder in salbutamol tablets preparation. Crude cashew gum was collected and purified by dialysis. The resulting higher mass fraction was subsequently freeze dried. The purified gum had a light amber color, sparkling pieces, and was odorless. Salbutamol tablets formulated using purified cashew gum were evaluated for weight variation, friability, hardness, disintegration time, in vitro dissolution studies, and assay tests. Tablets formulated with a low concentration of 2.75 % w/v purified gum as the binding agent showed excellent physical properties. The hardness of tablets was 10.80 kPa, and the friability < 1%. The disintegration time of the tablets was < 15 minutes and they disintegrated quickly in aqueous solutions, with > 80% dissolution in 30 minutes. This study shows that purified cashew gum has the potential to be used as a pharmaceutical binding agent in immediate release tablet formulations.