TO ENHANCE THE SOLUBILITY OF CURCUMIN BY SOLID SELF-MICROEMULSIFYING DRUG DELIVERY SYSTEM (SMEDDS).

This study was performed to develop and characterize a novel solid self- microemulsifying drug delivery system of class IV drug curcumin by spray drying method using Aerosil 200 as the solid carrierfor the purpose of solubility enhancement of curcumin. Solubility of curcumin was determined in various vehicles, including oils, surfactants and co-surfactants. The compatibility study was performed by IR and DSC. Pseudo-ternary phase diagrams were constructed to identify the most efficient self-emulsification region. The optimized liquid SMEDDS for curcumin formulation contained of oil capryol 90, surfactant kolliphor TPGS and co-surfactant PEG 400 in the ratio 3:1:1. The optimum liquid SMEDDS consisted of 4% curcumin, 60% capryol 90, 20% kolliphor TPGS and 20% PEG 400. Solid SMEDDS were also evaluated for flow properties like angle of repose, Hausner’s ratio, Carr’s index, bulk density and tapped density. The curcumin liquid and solid SMEDDS formulation rapidly formed fine oil-in-water microemulsion with mean globule size 153±7.4 nm and 169±8.2 respectively. The drug formulated in the solid SMEDDS was quickly and completely dissolved (≥90%) within 120 min, both in 0.1N HCl and phosphate buffer pH 6.8 dissolution media, whereas crude curcumin powder was significantly less soluble. The solubility of S-SMEDDS in distilled water was inhanced 151.68 fold and 170.87 fold when determined by UV and HPLC respectively, whereas aqueous solubility of crude curcumin was 0.694μg/ml. This study demonstrates that self-microemulsifying drug delivery system results in significant improvement in solubility and dissolution of very poorly water soluble drug curcumin.