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“EXCELLENCE THROUGH KNOWLEDGE” P A G E 62 From Food to Drug Delivery Systems: Application of Starches in Pediatric Parcetamol Formulations Starches are widely used as excipients in tablet, granule and capsule formulations where they may be used as bulking agent, disintegrants, glidants or lubricants in powder form, or binder in the mucilagous (paste) form. Excipients are usually inert/non-reactive ingredients used in solid dosages as drug carriers, tablet disintegrants or bulking agent. Corn (Zea Mays) and potato (Solanum spp) starches are the most widely used starches in pharmaceutical products; however previous studies on yam and sweet potato starches have shown promising results (Riley et al, 2004, 2006). Yam tubers are primarily cultivated in tropical and subtropical regions as a primary source of carbohydrate. The tuber is of high nutritional value containing up to 85 % starch, 3-8 % protein, 2-5 % fiber, and 0.2-0.7 % fat on a dry weight basis. This study was designed to assess the binder properties of Jamaican yam starches and their impact on the dissolution of paracetamol from paediatric granules for reconstitution. Dissolution studies on paracetamol granules formulated with 2.5 % and 10 % yam starch as binder showed significant differences in the rate of drug dissolution (p<0.05). The type of binder used was found to have significant influences on the rate of paracetamol release/dissolution. Reconstituted paracetamol granules formulated with starches from Chinese yam and Bitter yam had the fastest dissolution rate (2.2 and 2.6 T80/min respectively) while those formulated with Round leaf yellow yam, Negro yam and the conventional Corn starch had the slowest rates (4.5, 4.3 and 4.55 T80/min respectively). The rate of drug dissolution was also found to be directly dependent on the binder concentration, as granules formulated with 2.5 % starch as binder had a faster T80 than that with 10 % starch as binder. It was also observed that at 2.5 % binder concentration all the yam starches studied had faster dissolution rates than those formulated with corn starch; however this was not the case when the binder concentration was increased to 10 %, as only Chinese yam and Bitter (yam had faster dissolution rates 3.5 and 4 T80/ min) than the formulations with corn starch (5.3 T80/min). These results shows that yam starches are more efficient in the releasing the active pharmaceutical ingredient (paracetamol) than the traditionally used corn starch. This implies that in pharmaceutical formulations such as tablets, capsules and reconstituted suspensions containing yam starches would result in a faster effect or relief than those with corn starch. This may imply faster relief for patients on pharmaceutical tablets, capsules and reconstituted suspensions containing yam starches as formulation adjuvants relative to those containing corn starch. Cliff Riley 1 ; Andrew Wheatley 2 ; Safafadeen Adebayo 1 ; Helen and Asemota 2 1 College of Health Science, University of Technology, Jamaica 2 The University of the West Indies, Mona Editor’s Note: This research was presented at the 23rd Caribbean Academy of Science (CAS) Conference, St. Johns, Antigua and Barbuda, 2010. CliffRiley AndrewWheatley