PREPARATION AND EVALUATION OF NEEM (AZADIRACHTA INDICA) EXTRACT MICROBEADS USING HYDROGEL SYSTEM FOR WOUND HEALING

Introduction: Neem (Azadirachta indica, Meliaceae) is being used as an antimicrobial agent in traditional systems of medicines since ancient times. Neem is also applied on wounds in the form of aqueous extracts of various parts of the plant but is associated with problems of stability on long term storage. Objective: In the present work, the aim was to incorporate Neem (Azadirachta indica) extract in hydrogel system and prepare microbeads for application on wounds. Material and methods: The microbeads were prepared by mixing of drug and polymers to cause poly ionic complexation. The formulation was evaluated for various pharmaceutical parameters such as Solubility, Drug Release, Water Holding Capacity, % Drug Entrapped, Bead Diameter Measurement and Antimicrobial study. Result and Discussion: The evaluation of the optimized batch showed % drug entrapped to be 5.61 %, drug release of 65.688% in phosphate buffer pH 8 within 5 hrs and water uptake of 80% which were similar to the solutions obtained by the design expert DX7 Statease software. This suggested that the optimization model is validated. The microbeads of the optimized batch had a diameter of approximately 80 μm. Conclusion: Polymeric encapsulation in the form of beads allowed controlled delivery as well as enhanced stability of Azadirachtin. It provides a cost-effective antimicrobial therapy.