On Disintegration and Dissolution Behaviors of Paracetamol Tablet Formulations

mulation and in many cases the bioavailability of drug from tablets has received considerable attention. As part of the efforts to reach international harmonization of pharmaceutical excipients, the Joint Conference on Excipients identified starch as one of the top 10 excipients (1). Starch is a multipurpose excipient in tablet formulation, and it is used as a binder, disintegrant, and filler (2). The relevance of starch mucilage as a binder in the granulation of hydrophobic drug substrates has been established (3). Although cornstarch is the most frequently used excipient in tableting, previous studies of breadfruit and cocoyam have shown some promise (4,5). Preliminary evaluation of these starches following official and unofficial protocols showed that they possess some of the desirable features of good excipients (5–7). Breadfruit and cocoyam starches, respectively, were found to possess superior hydration and moisture sorption capacities when compared with cornstarch BP (4), which suggests their suitability as mucilaginous binding agents. Binders provide the necessary binding force that holds powders together to form granules, which under compression form a tablet. Usually the stronger (i.e., more efficient) the binder,