Isolation and evaluation of Basella alba linn. Leaf mucilage as release retardant in tablet formulation

In recent years, plant derived polymers have evoked tremendous interest due to their diverse pharmaceutical applications such as diluent, binder, disintegrate in tablets, thickeners in oral liquids, protective colloids in suspensions, gelling agents in gels and bases in suppository, they are also used in cosmetics, textiles, paints and paper-making. Basella alba is a wildly cultivated, cool season vegetable with climbing growth habit. Malabar spinach is high in vitamin A, vitamin C, iron and calcium. In the present work, an attempt was made to develop matrix tablets of diclofenac using natural release retardant isolated from Basella alba leaves and its efficiency was compared with most widely used natural release retardant like guar gum.