A potential application of vietnamese rice in pharmaceutical industry as a sustained release agent

The aim of this study was to modify the rice starch to prolong the release of drug in gastric fluid. Various types of Vietnamese rice were introduced in the study as the matrix of sustained release dosage form. Rice was thermally modified in water for a determined time at different temperatures. The rice starch was first ground and sieved. Then the powder was physically modified by heat and finally dried in an oven. The modified rice starch appeared as an odorless fine white powder. The tablet containing modified rice starch and Paracetamol were prepared by the wet granulation method. The dissolution rate of tablets was evaluated in simulated gastric fluid without pepsin (buffer pH 1.2). HPLC method was used to determine the amount of drug release. The matrix tablet containing thermally modified starch showed sustained release as compared to the control. The thermally modified starch could be a novel pharmaceutical excipient for sustained release dosage form design.