Cashew Nut Starch as Natural Excipient for Improved Bioavailability of Drugs

The bioavailability of drug is affected by various excipients present in the formulation. In case of tablets, the role of binders is very important for release of drug and bioavailability. In the present study, starch was extracted from the cashew nuts and used as binding agentat a concentration of 2% w/v, 4% w/v, 6% w/v and 8% w/v. The tablets were formulated by using famotidine drug and they were further evaluated for various parameters like weight variation, hardness, friability, disintegration time, in vitro and in vivo drug release. The results show that all parameters were found within the given Indian Pharmacopeial limits. The in vitro release studies were performed in 0.1 N HCl using dialysis methods. This shows that tablets containing 2 % of cashew starch showed maximum drug release (89%) then other formulations. Then optimized formulation was further used for in vivo study and results shows better bioavailability as compared to marketed products.