ABSTRACT

Starch is a naturally occurring polymer found in parts of the plants such as leaves, stems, tubers, and fruits. It is a commonly used excipient in pharmaceutical formulations because of its availability, affordability and inertness. Cyperus esculentus (tiger nut) is widely cultivated in the country especially in the northern part of Nigeria. Until recently, the use of tiger nut had been limited to food products and few pharmaceutical applications. This research is aimed at characterizing the starch isolated from Cyperus esculentus tubers, ascertaining its use as a binder and disintegrant in paracetamol tablet formulations, and to compare it with corn starch BP. Cyperus esculentus tubers, paracetamol powder, corn starch, gelatin, talc, magnesium stearate, and sodium benzoate were used for the study. Starch was isolated from Cyperus esculentus tubers. Physicochemical tests such as determination of densities, viscosity, pH, ash value, loss on drying, paste clarity, freeze thaw stability, browning and charring temperatures were done on the starch. Wet granulation method of tablet formulation was used to prepare paracetamol granules. The granules produced were characterized and then compressed into tablets. The formulated tablets were evaluated for various tablet properties such as hardness, thickness, friability, weight variation, disintegration time, dissolution rate as quality control measures. The physicochemical properties of starch from Cyperus esculentus were found to conform to BP standards for pharmaceutical grade starch. Results obtained from micromeritic studies such as angle of repose of 58.74 o , compressibility index of 16.0 % and Hausner’s quotient of 1.19 revealed that Cyperus esculentus is a poorly flowing powder. Paracetamol granules produced had good flowability as shown by angle of repose being < 50 o , Hausner’s quotient of