Background & Aim: Herbal medicines have historical use and is currently being used in treatment of various diseases largely due to its relative availability and cheap cost. Standardization and development of suitable dosage forms for herbal medicines is therefore pertinent for both practitioners and patients. This study aims to evaluate effect of diluents (microcrystalline cellulose, lactose and magnesium carbonate) on the compaction and compression properties of the stem bark extract of Terminalia avicennoides.Experimental: The crushed powdered stem bark was macerated in 70 % ethanol for 72 h at room temperature with intermittent stirring. The filtrate was concentrated over a water bath at 100 °C to obtain the dried extract (TAE). Granules of the extract were prepared by wet granulation. Flow properties and moisture content of the granules were determined. Compatibility between the extract and the diluents was investigated by Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR). Compacts were made and properties evaluated using the Heckel and Kawakita models.Results: Results of FTIR spectra showed no interaction between the ingredients of the tablet formulations. Granules prepared with microcrystalline cellulose (T-MCC) possessed better flow and showed more propensities to be compacted than the other tablet batches. All the tablet formulations were observed to exhibit plastic deformation but T-MCC showed faster onset of deformation, closer packing, less cohesiveness, greater densification and easier compaction ability than tablets prepared with lactose (T-LAC) and magnesium carbonate (T-MAG). Although T-MAG showed the highest tensile strength, it was the only formulation that disintegrated within the 30 min official specification for herbal tablets.Recommended applications/industries: However, based on other parameters apart from disintegration time, microcrystalline cellulose is considered as the diluent of choice for preparation of standardized and robust tablets of stem bark extract of Terminalia avicennoides.
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