CHITIN AND CHITOSAN AS DISINTEGRANTS IN PARACETAMOL TABLETS

Chitin and chitosan as disintegrants in paracetamol tablets were evalu ated and compared to four commonty used disintegrants. Tablets contain ing chitosan showed faster disintegration, greater dissolution and was slightly softer than those containing chitin. An increment in concent ration of these polymers caused markedly faster disintegration and bet ter dissolution while an increase in compressional force showed opposi te effects. Aging slightly altered the disintegration and dissolution Tablets containing 7% of chitosan disintegrated within one minute whic h was much faster than those containing corn starch and microcrystalli ne cellulose but slightly slower than those containing sodium starch g lycolate and croscarmellose sodium. However,their dissolution profiles were non-significantly different from those of the latter ones. Cryst allinity, degree of acetylation, chain length and particle size were a ttributed to the efficiency of chitin and chitosan. Moisture sorption and water uptake were found to be the major mechanisms of disintegrati on white dissolution related to the swelling capacity.