Production and Evaluation of Disintegrant Properties of Microcrystalline Cellulose Derived from Saccharum officinarum L (Poaceae) in Metronidazole Based Formulation

The aim of the study was to produce microcrystalline cellulose from Saccharumofficinarum and to evaluate its use as a disintegrant in metronidazole tablet formulation. Cellulose was produced and characterized. This was followed by a comparative characterization of the tablets formulated by using Saccharumofficinarummicrocrystalline cellulose (SO-MCC), maize starch and crosscarmellose sodium (Ac-di-sol®) as disintegrants. The granules were evaluated for flow properties and the tablet evaluated for hardness, friability, disintegration and dissolution properties. For disintegration studies, the disintegrants disintegrated within 10 minutes in this order: Ac-di-sol® >SO-MCC>Maize starch. All the tablets exhibited high release profile which conformed to British Pharmacopoeia standards. Hence, SO-MCC can be used as an alternative disintegrant in terms of cost and availability.