Development and Acute Oral Toxicity Evaluation of a Dry Extract from Tamarindus Indica L

Nowadays, several medicinal plants are used to produce pharmaceuticals. Nonetheless, development of phytopharmaceutical has intrinsic technological challenges [1]. Concerning to liquid and dry plant extracts, the latter possess many advantages over the former. The chemical and microbiological stability are greater in dry extracts. However, the dry extracts usually show poor physicomechanical properties and very poor compressibility. The dried extracts are easily affected by moisture and usually are not able to be used in the manufacture of tablets by direct compression [2]. The drying of vegetal extracts can be successfully improved if some excipients are used as drying carriers [1]. The most used excipients in this context are colloidal silicon dioxide, malt dextrin, and lactose and corn starch [3]. If the drying adjuvants are well selected, the flow properties and compressibility of the dry extracts can be improved, allowing that can be utilized, in the formulation of solid dosage forms [4]. Currently, almost all published articles describe the method to obtain natural dry extracts by using spray drying or freeze-drying. The last is long and expensive. Just a few material justify the preparation by this way. The former is fast but also expensive. The authors mainly describe the obtaining methods at the laboratory level. In this sense, to find a simple method to obtain dry vegetal extracts ready to use in pharmaceutical compounding, by using a simple technology; that can be found in everywhere; is a challenge for the technologist.