Author: A. Shirwaikar*, Annie Shirwaikar1, S. Lakshmana Prabu and G. Aravind Kumar
use of natural excipients to deliver the bioactive agents has been hampered by the synthetic materials. However, advantages offered by these natural excipients are their being non-toxic, less expensive and freely available. The performance of the excipients partly determines the quality of the medicines. The traditional concept of the excipients as any component other than the active substance has undergone a substantial evolution from an inert and cheap vehicle to an essential constituent of the formulation. Excipients are any component other than the active substance(s) intentionally added to formulation of a dosage form, Polysaccharides, volatile oils, controlled delivery, Excipients are primarily used as diluents, binders, disintegrants, adhesives, glidants and sweeteners in conventional dosage forms like tablets and capsules, Present day consumers look for natural ingredients in food, drugs, and cosmetics as they believe that anything natural will be safer and more devoid of side effects, excipients are inert and do not exert any therapeutic or biological action or modify the biological action of the drug substance has changed and it is now recognized that excipients can potentially influence the rate and/or extent of absorption of a drug. As herbal excipients are non-toxic and compatible, they have a major role to play in pharmaceutical formulation. Hence, this paper is an attempt to review herbal excipients used in NDDS, Polysaccharides in Pharmaceuticals, Natural polysaccharides are extensively used for the development of solid dosage forms. These polymers of monosaccharides (sugars) are inexpensive and available in a variety of structures with a variety of properties. They are highly stable, safe, non-toxic, and hydrophilic and gel forming in nature, Pectins, starch, guar gum, amylase and karaya gum are a few polysaccharides commonly used in dosage forms. Non-starch, linear polysaccharides remain intact in the physiological environment of the stomach and the small intestine, but are degraded by the bacterial inhabitants of the human colon which make them potentially useful in targeted delivery systems to the colon
