Comparative study on physiochemical and flow properties of Chickpea and Maize starch

Excipients are generally materials other than the active ingredients basically required in the manufacturing of all types of pharmaceutical formulations. Recent years witnessed the increase in the number of researchers carrying out on the excipients derived from naturl sources such as, polysaccharides and conclued that natural excipients are comparable and could be alternative to the synthetic addditives. However, choosing the optimum excipients requires striking a balance between time and cost savings, as well as expected product performance. Starch is considered to be one of the most commonly used excipients for pharmaceutical preparations. Non-conventional starch sources have been studied profoundly in recent years for searching new additive properties.  Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) is the largest produced food legume in globally. The objective of the present study was to compare the physiochemical and flow characteristics of starches from chick pea and maize. Starch was isolated and evaluated its physical, chemical and functional properties. Solubility of both chickpea and maize starches was increased with increasing temperatures. The Pre-compression  tests  such as  angle of repose, bulk density, tapped density, Hausner’s ratio, and % compressibility of  starch were carried out which showed that Chick pea starch powder is non-free flowing and has a low interparticulate friction. Keywords: Excipients, Chickpea starch, Maize starch, Flow properties, Physiochemical properties.