NATURAL POLYMERS: THEIR APPLICATIONS IN FOOD, COSMETIC AND PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRIES

Every formulation or product is made up of two main constituents that are Active Ingredients (AI) and Excipients. Active Ingredients are known to be the main ingredients which are responsible for any desirable effect whereas, excipients are the ingredients which are used to formulate any preparation alongside the active ingredients for stabilization of the product. In industries, polymers are generally used as excipients and play a vital role in pharmaceutical, cosmetics and food preparations. Polymers are classified into three sub-types that are natural polymers, synthetic polymers and semi-synthetic polymers where natural polymers are proven to be more suitable over synthetic and semi-synthetic polymers in preparations or formulations because of their characteristics of Sustainability, Biodegradability, Bio-safety, No side effects and don't have any Drug Release associated problem and many more. Natural polymers are used in several industries such as pharmaceutical, food, non-food and cosmetic industries and act as thickening agent, rate controlling agent, taste masking agent, protective or stabilizing agents & many more as per the requirements. Some of the examples of natural polymers are agar, tragacanth, gum acacia, xanthan gum, starch, pectin, locus bean gum, carrageenan, cellulose, inulin, gelatin, alginates, guar gum, psyllium, collagen, chitin and etc.