EVALUATION OF MALTODEXTRINS AS TABLET EXCIPIENTS .1. MICROMERITIC ANDCOMPRESSIONAL CHARACTERIZATION

Maltodextrins (MD) (CC6H10O5)nH20 are nonsweet, nontoxic saccharide po lymers having a dextrose equivalent value of less than 20. These are r ecommended as tablet excipients. Very little work has been done to eva luate their efficient application for this purpose. The present commun ication deals with preliminary investigation of micromeritic and compr essional characterization of MD. Six MD derivatives, M-40, 100, 150, 5 00, 500 (agg) and 700 (agg) were studied. Each MD was compressed into tablets weighing 1.5 g at 10, 15 and 20 kp pressure using a single pun ch Carver press. The tablets were evaluated for hardness, friability l oss, and disintegration time. Micromeritic properties such as bulk/tap density, packing properties, and flow properties of each MD were stud ied. The results showed that MD can be used as directly compressible t ablet excipients. Significant differences were observed in micromeriti c properties of MD with bulk/tap densities between 0.23 to 0.65 g cm-3 . Hardness values varied between 11.9 to 35 kp with friability loss le ss than 0.7%. The disintegration time varied between 20-106 min. The c ompression force affected tablet properties. Excellent tablets could b e obtained using minimal compaction force. Study suggests further exte nsive evaluation of maltodextrins for this purpose.