Orally Disintegrating Tablet Using Colocasia esculenta Tuber Polysaccharide as a Disintegrant and its Comparision with Commercially Available Superdisintegrants

Background: Colocasia esculenta is a fast growing plant and is cultivated for consumption of leaf and tuber. Polysaccharide obtained from the tubers of Colocasia esculenta is known as Taro polymer. Chemically it is neutral heteropolysaccharide of galactose, galactose and arabinose. Objective: The present research work was aimed at the development and characterization of orally disintegrating tablet of Valsartan using natural disintegrant to produce rapid onset of action and patient compliance. Method: Polysaccharide from Colocasia esculenta tubers was isolated using solvent precipitation method. The isolated polysaccharide was investigated as disintegrant in orally disintegrating tablets. Valsartan, an antihypertensive drug, was selected as a model drug. The drug excipient interactions were characterized by FTIR studies. The tablets of Valsartan were prepared separately using different concentrations [2.5, 5, 7.5 and 10 % w/w] of isolated Colocasia esculenta polysaccharide and Kollidon®, Ac-Di-Sol® as synthetic superdisintegrants by using direct compression method. The tablets thus prepared were evaluated for various pre-compression and post-compression parameters. The disintegration time and in vitro drug release of the optimized formulation was compared with the available marketed formulation. The stability studies were performed on the optimised batch F12. Results: The formulation F12 containing 10 % of polysaccharide showed rapid wetting time and disintegration time and is comparable to formulations prepared using synthetic superdisintegrants at the same concentration level. Conclusion: Colocasia esculenta polysaccharide can be used as a disintegrant in the formulation of orally disintegrating tablets. Its disintegrating property was found to be comparable with that of the commercially available superdisintegrants.