ISOLATION, PURIFICATION, EVALUATION AND TOXICITY STUDIES OF NATURAL EDIBLE MUCOADHESIVE POLYMERS FROM VARIOUS PARTS OF PLANTS AND COMPARED WITH SYNTHETIC MUCOADHESIVE POLYMERS

Mucilages of plant origin have been used widely as demulcent because of their unique properties to bind with the mucous membrane. Isolation of water-soluble components from the natural edible sources was carried out by cold/hot aqueous extraction process followed by the organic solvent precipitation. The yield of Pithecellobium dulce (PD), Prosopis juliflora (PJ), Acacia arabica (AA) and Abelmoschus esculanthus (AE) was ≈5.49, 4.91, 3.46, 3.87 % w/w respectively to the initial weight. The isolated mucoadhesive materials obtained from natural sources were proved to be safe and free from toxic or adverse effects. Swollen volumes after 24 h of hydration were found to be 12.1, 12.4, 13.3, and 18.3 indicating their moderate swellability compared to 27.4 of carbopol 934 P (CP), 25.7 of sodium alginate (SAA), 1.2 of guar gum (GG) and 6.4 of hydroxy propyl methyl cellulose (HPMC). The moisture sorption capacities of PD & PJ are very less. The loss on drying of PD, PJ, and AA & AE was less than the official limit of 6%. The isolated mucoadhesive material possessed comparable shear and tensile strengths to the commercially available generally regarded as Safe (GRAS) category polymers and higher than the other natural polymers such as sodium alginate and guar gum. The FTIR spectra’s of PD, PJ, AA, and AE has not undergone any unacceptable interactions compared with the synthetic mucoadhesive polymers. The DSC thermographs of PD, PJ, AA, and AE suggest that there are no significant interactions compared with synthetic mucoadhesive polymers.