Rapid Screening of Antioxidants in Pharmaceutical Formulation Development Using Cyclic Voltammetry - Potential And Limitations

Cyclic voltammetry (CV) is a unique technique for the electrochemical characterization of compounds by providing their oxidation / reduction potentials. This technique is widely used in evaluating antioxidants in the oil, food, diagnostic and agricultural industries; however, CV is rarely used in the development of pharmaceutical formulations. This review briefly describes the basic principles of CV and its application in other industries along with the potential and limitations of CV in the rapid evaluation of antioxidants in pharmaceutical formulations. An extensive survey of the literature shows that there is a good correlation between the oxidation potentials of various antioxidants and their antioxidant efficiency. In conclusion, CV should be useful in the development of pharmaceutical formulations where a small group of the preferred antioxidants is rapidly identified. This small group of the most preferred antioxidants can then be employed in a conventional drug stability study thereby providing a rapid approach for the selection of the most suitable antioxidant for a pharmaceutical formulation.