Preliminary investigation of in-vitro bioadhesive properties of selected natural gums

Objective: The aim was to investigate the suitability of hydrophilic natural gums, namely - konjac glucomannan gum (KG), Tara gallactomannan gum (TG) andxanthan gum (XG); and their combination, as bioadhesive polymers. Materials and Methods: Bioadhesive strength of the gums and their combination was investigated using texture analyzer employing chicken pouch as biological membrane. Results: It was observed that the bioadhesive strength was enhanced by the increase in contact time between the tablets under test and biological membrane. Different gums and their combination produced significantly different bioadhesive strength, and were ranked in the order of: XG > KG40H > KG40H + XG > KG32H > KG32H + XG + TG > KG32H + XG > XG + TG > KG40H + XG + TG. Conclusions: From these preliminary studies, it can be concluded that KG and XG are capable to be employed as bioadhesive polymers in drug delivery systems and chicken pouch an easily available, having uniform surface thus producing reproducible results, can be used as model mucosa.