Abstract

EXTRACTION OF MUCILAGES AND ITS COMPARATIVE MUCOADHESIVE STUDIES FROM HIBISCUS PLANT SPECIES

Mulchand A. Shende* and Dr. Rajendra P. Marathe

ABSTRACT

This paper reports the mucoadhesive characteristics of novel biomaterial mucilages from the hibiscus species plants of the Malvaceae family which are widely available in India in large quantities. The plant mucilage was isolated by simple maceration in water under the different conditions for the extraction and precipitation and its phytochemical, physiochemical and mucoadhesivity properties were determined. The biomaterial percentage yield, swelling index and acute animal toxicity were also studied. The mucoadhesivity of the mucilages was determined by the shear stress, wilhelmy plate method, falling sphere method and ex-vivo bioadhesive strength method, and the results were compared with those of the standard polymers sodium carboxymethyl cellulose, carbopol 974P and hydroxy propyl methyl cellulose. The research study revealed that the biomaterial mucilages from hibiscus esculentus species exhibits promising inbuilt mucoadhesion and good mucoretentability as that of other hibiscus species. The mucoadhesion of the biomaterial mucilages was also confirmed by IR spectra showing carboxyl and hydroxyl groups. Hence the isolated biomaterial from the hibiscus species can serve as a powerful natural mucoadhesant and may be used to develop mucoadhesive drug delivery systems to target the drugs.

Keywords: Biomaterial mucilages, Hibiscus species, HRS, HEC, HSR, Mucoadhesion.