Studies on Leucaena leucocephala seed gum: evaluation of suspending properties

Gum was isolated from Leucaena leucocephala seeds and was subjected to pref ormulation studies including toxicity studies, for its suitability as a pha rmaceutical adjuvant. Leucaena gum has been further evaluated as a suspendi ng agent. Zinc oxide suspensions were prepared with different concentration s of Leucaena gum and tragacanth, and compared. The outcome of these invest igations shows that Leucaena seed gum did not possess acute toxicity since its LD50' when determined on either sex of mice, was found to be very high (1850.23 mg/kg). Studies indicate that this gum may be used as a pharmaceut ical adjuvant and as a suspending agent depending on its suspending ability and suspension stability.