Isolation and Characterization of Mucilage Obtained from Abroma augustum Leaf

Plant Mucilage is pharmaceutically important polysaccharide with wide range of applications. There were no studies on isolation and characterization of mucilage of Abroma augustum. Hence, the present study was focused on isolation of mucilage from A. augustum leaf which belongs malvaceae family. Abroma augustum leaf mucilage morphological characteristics, identification, solubility, pH, swelling capacity or water binding capacity, oil binding capacity, swelling index, viscosity and FTIR was studied. Physicochemical results showed this mucilage may be useful for tablet base as well as a suspending agent.
The mucilage studied by various analytical techniques like water binding capacity 1.45ml, oil binding capacity 1.54ml. swelling index 1100. pH 2.93. The swelling properties and mucoadhesion properties of the mucilage were determined in-vitro and it was found that the mucilage had high swelling capacities along with appreciable mucoadhesive strength. Moreover, from the analytical studies, it was found that the mucilage is amorphous in nature. Thus, the mucilage obtained from A. augustum can be used as a natural mucoadhesive polymer for formulating various drug delivery systems.