Caesalpinia sappan Galactomannan- A Herbal Excipient in Drug Delivery

Over the past few years the research on plant excipients in drug delivery has increased much, as well as growing demand for plant derived excipients and formulations by the public.The reason behind is it's non-toxic nature,reduced cost,availability and less side effects. So making a formulation containing a natural excipient of having much importance, galactomannan is one of such excipients having multifunctional use and used in pharmaceutical and other areas. The main aim of my work was to find out a new plant containing rich source of galactomannan and Caesalpinia sappan was selected as the source.The work was conducted in 2 phases.Phase 1:It includes extraction & purification of galactomannan from seeds of Caesalpinia sappan,Qualitative analysis of chemical constituents,Characterization by FTIR and DSC.Evaluation of physico-chemical properties, Rheological studies,Rapid visco starch analyzer technique,Cytotoxicity study,sugar components by TLC,Microbial load determination.Phase 2:Formulation of tablets with varying drug:galactomannan ratio,Tablet punching,Evaluation of tablets,Optimization of best batch,water uptake and mass erosion study,release kinetic study,results,discussion.