ABSTRACT
Objective: To characterise a novel multifunctional pharmaceutical excipient and investigate its effect on paracetamol release from tablets prepared by direct compression. Methods: The excipient was prepared by co-processing gelatinized maize starch with sodium carboxymethyl cellulose and microcrystalline cellulose in a ratio of 2:1:1, dried and pulverized into powder. The excipient formulated was characterized using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and differential scanning calorimetry. The excipient was used to prepare batches of tablets by direct compression with drug-excipient ratios of 1:1, 1:2, 1:3 and 1:4. Parameters evaluated on tablets include crushing strength, friability and in vitro dissolution studies. Results: Differential scanning calorimetry analysis revealed a crystalline excipient while Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy showed no interaction between the excipient and paracetamol. Tablets from all the batches gave average crushing strength values between 3.47 and 4.88 kp. The 1:1 and 1:2 tablet batches were comparable to each other while 1:3 and 1:4 were also comparable to one another in their dissolution profiles. The dissolution parameters of the 1:4 batch was faster with - m