Arch Pharm Res Vol 32, No 2, 259-267, 2009

DOI 10.1007/s12272-009-1231-0

Effects of Drying Methods on the Physicochemical and Compressional

Characteristics of Okra Powder and the Release Properties of
its Metronidazole Tablet Formulation
L. G. Bakre and K. T. Jaiyeoba
Department of Pharmaceutics and Industrial Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Ibadan, Nigeria

(Received October 25, 2008/Revised January 14, 2009/Accepted January 19, 2009)

A study has been made of the effects of sun and oven drying methods on the physicochemical charac-
teristics and compressibility of Okra powder and the release properties of its metronidazole tablet for-
mulation. Corn starch was used as the reference standard. The mechanical properties of the tablets were
evaluated using crushing strength and friability, while the release properties were determined using the
disintegration times and dissolution rates. The results obtained showed that sun-dried Okra powder had
smaller particle size, exhibited good flow and possessed higher hydration and swelling capacities com-
pared to the oven dried samples. The compressibility of Okra powders assessed by the indices of plas-
ticity from Heckel (Py) and Kawakita plots (Pk) showed that sun dried Okra powders had higher Py but
lower Pk values than the oven-dried Okra powder. Metronidazole tablets formulated with oven dried
Okra powder formed stronger tablets than tablets containing sun dried Okra powder. Generally, tablets
containing sun dried Okra powders had faster disintegration and dissolution than tablets formulated with
oven-dried powder. The results suggest that the choice of drying method during the processing of phar-
maceutical raw materials is critical to its physicochemical properties and the release properties of its tab-
let formulations.
Key words: Drying methods, Okra, Physicochemical and release properties, Metronidazole tablets

INTRODUCTION material. In oven drying, the materials absorb heat by all

The vast majority of pharmaceutical products available
today are administered as solid dosage forms and are
produced by the formulation and processing of powdered
solids. During the processing of these powders, it is
important that the moisture content be kept as low as
possible to prevent microbial spoilage and enzymatic
degradation (Adeoye and Olaniyi, 2000). In addition,
high moisture content may undermine the stability of
hydrolysable constituents of solid dosage forms if they
are formulated together with it. Therefore, most pharma-
ceutical raw materials need to be dried to reduce moisture
to an optimum level of between 2-4%. The most commonly
employed drying method is the oven drying method which
utilizes a fixed temperature to remove moisture from a
Correspondence to: L. G. Bakre, P. O Box 22613, University of Ibadan
Post Office, Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria
Tel: 234-8033700102
E-mail: lateefbakr@yahoo.com
the three mechanisms of heat transfer namely conduction
through the drying tray, convection of the hot air in the
oven and radiation from the walls of the oven. However,
the transfer of thermal energy is realized mainly by
means of convection and the penetration of this thermal
energy is dependent on the thermal conductivity of the
material. Sun drying is another method often employed to
dry pharmaceutical raw materials. The sun continuously
radiates enormous amount of solar energy at wavelengths
that cover the ultraviolet, visible and infra-red bands and
it is transmitted by radiation. When solar energy strikes
any object whether in the form of solid, liquid or gas;
changes in the magnitude, direction and wavelength are
expected to occur depending on the nature and charac-
teristics of the intervening object. The radiation may be
transmitted (through a transparent object like air or
glass), partially or completely absorbed (the components
absorbed depend on wavelength of the specific radiation
and the characteristic of the object), scattered by being
deflected in all directions or reflected. The sun energy,

259
260
when absorbed is converted to heat, chemical and vibra-
tional energy. It is the heat energy that results in evapora-
tion of moisture from the material. However, the drying
conditions and choice of drying method may significantly
affect structural and functional properties such as tablet-
ing behaviour of pharmaceutical materials (Bataile et al.,
1993; Chatract and Staniforth, 1990), (Habib et al., 2002)
and subsequent formulation characteristic (York, 1983,
1992).
The aim of this study is to compare the effects of sun
and oven drying methods on the physicochemical and
compression characteristics of Okra powder and the
release properties of its metronidazole tablet formulation.
Sun dried (FOP-SD) powder was prepared by drying Okra
pods in the sun for 72 h at 67% relative humidity while
the oven dried powder (FOP-OV) was obtained by drying
the pods in the oven at 60oC for 9 h.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
The materials used were metronidazole BP and corn
starch BP (BDH Chemical, Poole, U. K.) polyvinylpyroli-
done, PVP (30,000, Merck, Germany), lactose (DMV
Veghel, Netherlands), magnesium stearate (Hopkin and
Williams, England), Okra powder prepared in Pharma-
ceutics laboratory, University of Ibadan, Nigeria. Water
was double distilled and every other chemical was of
analytical grades.
Preparation of Okra powders
A 5.0 kg weight of fresh Okra pods from which the
stalk and the apex of the pod had been removed was
weighed, sliced with a hand knife and spread in the sun
for 72 h. The sun drying was done between 9:00 hrs and
16:00 hrs daily. The average temperature during this
period was 33oC and the relative humidity was 67%. The
sun dried pods were then crushed into tiny bits in a
mortar and then pulverized in an osterizer blender to
produce powdered Okra labeled as FOP-SD. Fresh okra
pods without the apex and the stalk was prepared as
above but dried in an oven (Gallenkamp, UK), at 60oC
for 9 h to produce powdered Okra labeled as FOP-OV.
Evaluation of physicochemical properties of Okra
powders
Elemental Constituents of the Okra powder
A 500 mg quantity of each Okra powder was introduc-
ed into the Link Analytical XR300 (Wallis Worthing,
Europe). The results of the elemental constituents was
displayed on the screen.
Hydration capacity
Four hundred (400) mg samples were placed in each of
L. G. Bakre and K. T. Jaiyeoba
15 mL plastic centrifuge tubes, distilled water was added,
the tubes covered with parafilm and the contents mixed
on a vortex mixer for 2 minutes. The mixture in each tube
was left for an additional 3 minutes and then centrifuged
at 3000 g on a centrifuge (CFB-502-010, Griffin and
George, U.K). The supernatant was decanted and the
sediment weighed. The weight of water absorbed and re-
tained was determined as the gain in weight of dry sample
from Eq. (1). Determinations were made in quadruplicate.
Hydration Capacity
( weight of tube + se dim ent) – weight of tube
= ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (1)
Sample weight (dry basic)
Moisture sorption capacity
Two gram of the Okra powder was accurately weighed
and evenly distributed over the surface of a 70 mm tarred
petri dish. The sample was then placed in a large desicca-
tor containing distilled water in its reservoir (RH = 100%).
The desiccator was stored at room temperature at various
time intervals over a five-day period. The weight gained
by the exposed sample was recorded and the amount of
water sorbed was calculated from the weight difference.
Swelling capacity
Three gram of the Okra powder was placed in a 50 mL
ground-glass stoppered graduated cylinder. 20 mL of water
was added and the cylinder closed. This was shaken
vigorously every 10 minutes for 1 h and then allowed to
stand for 5 h. At 2.5 h after the beginning of the test, any
large volume of liquid retained in the layer of the sample
and particles of the drug floating at the surface of the
liquid was released by rotating the cylinder about a
vertical axis. The volume occupied by the sample includ-
ing any adhering mucilage was noted. The test was
performed in triplicate and the swelling index calculated
from the mean of the three tests.
VS
Swelling Capacity = ------ (2)
VO
Bulk and tap densities
The bulk density was determined by a modification of
the method of Kumar and Kothari, 1999. 25 g of each of
the Okra powder was passed through a 1.00 mm mesh
screen to break up agglomerates which had been formed
during storage. This was then levelled carefully (without
compacting) into a 100 mL cylinder. The bulk density
was calculated from the ratio of the weight of the sample
to the bulk volume. This was carried out in triplicate and
the final bulk density was the mean determination of the
three values. Tap density was determined by subjecting
the powder to 300 taps by a standardized tapping proce-
Effects of Drying Methods on Okra Powder Properties
dure of 38 taps per minutes (British Standard 1460) and
then repeated with 700 taps. The final tapped volume was
obtained when the difference between 200 times taps is
less than 2%. The powder porosity was computed from
the bulk density and true density using the equation below:
bulk density
e = 1 – ---------------------------- (3)
true density
Particle or true density
The particle densities of the Okra powder samples and
corn starch were determined by the pycnometer method
using liquid immersion technique with benzene as the
displacement liquid. A 50 mL pycnometer bottle was
weighed when empty (w). This was filled with benzene
to the brim till it overflows. The excess was wiped off
the bottle and its contents were weighed (W1). The
difference between the two weights recorded was calcu-
lated (W2). A 2 g quality of the Okra pod powder was
weighed (W3) and quantitatively transferred into the
pycnometer bottle. The excess solvent was wiped off and
the bottle weighed again (W4). The particle density r was
calculated from the following equation.
W 2 ⋅ W3
ρ = ----------------------------------------- (4)
50(W1 + W3 + W4)
The results given are the means of three determina-
tions.
Determination of precompression density of Okra
powders
The precompression density (Do) was calculated as a
ratio of the loose bulk density to the particle density.
Preparation of Okra powder compacts
Five hundred (500) mg of the Okra powder were com-
pressed for 30 seconds into tablet with pre-determined
loads using a hydraulic hand press. The tablets weight
and dimensions were determined within ±1 mg and 0.01
mm respectively. Their relative densities (D) were calcu-
lated. Heckel plots of In (1/1-D) versus the compression
pressure, P and Kawakita plots of P/C vs. P were con-
structed.
Compaction data analysis
The Heckel (1961a) equation is widely used for relating
the relative density, D, of a powder bed during compres-
sion to the applied pressure, P. It is written as:
1
In⎛ -----------⎞ = KP + A (5)
⎝ 1 – D⎠
The slope of the straight line portion, K, is the reci-
procal of the mean yield pressure, Py, of the material.
261
From the value of the intercept, A, the relative density,
Da, can be calculated using the following equation
(Humbert-Droz et al., 1983):
–A
Da = 1 – e (6)
The relative density of the powder bed at the point
when the applied pressure equals zero, Do, is used to
describe the initial re arrangement phase of densification
as a result of die filling. The relative density, Db,
describes the phase of rearrangement at low pressures and
is the difference between Da and Do.
The Kawakita and Ludde (1970/71) equation is used to
study powder compression using the degree of volume
reduction, C, and is written as:
P P 1
---- = --- + ------ (7)
C a ab
The constant a is equal to the minimum porosity of the
material before compression; the constant b, which is
termed the coefficient of compression, is related to the
plasticity of the material. The reciprocal of b is related to
the pressure term Pk, which is the pressure required to
reduce the powder bed by 50% (Shivinand,and Sprockel,
1992; Lin and Chan, 1995)
Preparation of tablets
Batches (500 mg) of metronidazole formulations con-
taining 50% w/w metronidazole powder, 2.5%-15%
disintegrant, 5% PVP (binder) and lactose diluent were
compressed for 30s into tablets on a hydraulic hand press
(Model C, Carver Inc., Menomomee Falls, WJ, USA)
using a 12.5 mm die and flat faced punches lubricated
with a 2%w/v dispersion of magnesium stearate in 96%
ethanol. The tablets were stored over silica gel for 24 hr
to allow for elastic recovery and hardening, and prevent
false low yield values. Tablet weights and dimensions
were determined within ±1 mg and 0.01 mm respectively.
Determination of tablet properties
Crushing strength
The load (N) required to diametrically break the tablet
(crushing strength) was determined at room temperature
using a Monsanto Hardness tester. Ten tablets, randomly
selected from each batch were used in the test. Each
tablet was held between a fixed anvil and a moving jaw
apparatus until the tablet just fractured. The value of the
load on the gauge at this point gives a measure of the
tablet crushing strength in Kilogram force (KgF). Deter-
minations were made in quintuplicate for each batch of
the tablet tested.
Tablet friability
The percentage friability of the tablet was determined
262
using the Veego tablet friability apparatus (Veego Scien-
tific Devices, Mumbai, India). The weights of 10 tablets
were taken and then placed in the friabilator which was
then operated for 4 minutes at 25 revolutions per minute.
The tablets were collected, dusted and weighed again.
The percentage weight loss was calculated as percentage
friability. Determinations were made in duplicate.
Disintegration test
The disintegration times of the tablets were determined
in distilled water at 37±0.5oC using BP Manesty disin-
tegration test unit (Manesty Machines, Poole, U.K). Six
tablets from each formulation were placed on the wire
mesh just above the surface of the distilled water in the
tube and the apparatus was started simultaneously. The
time taken for all the tablets to disintegrate and go through
the wire mesh was recorded. Determinations were made
in triplicate.
Dissolution test
The dissolution test of metronidazole from the tablets
was studied in a rotating basket BP Apparatus II [Veego
digital dissolution tester, India] operated at 100 rpm using
900 mL of 0.1 mL hydrochloric acid maintained at 37±
0.5oC. Five (5 mL) samples were withdrawn at specified
time intervals and immediately replaced with 5 mL
samples of fresh buffer solution maintained at the same
temperature. The amount of metronidazole in each sample
was analysed spectrophotometrically at 250 nm on a SP6-
450 UV/VIS spectrophotometer (Pye Unicam, Middlesex,
England). Determinations were made in triplicate.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Effect of drying methods on physicochemical proper-
ties Okra powder
The British Pharmacopoeia (BP, 2005) gives limit tests
for a number of possible contaminants in pharmaceutical
raw materials but the requirements are not specific on the
exact tolerable level of any possible contaminants. However,
it should not be presumed that unusual impurities are
tolerated. Heavy metals like lead which are highly un-
desirable in pharmaceutical raw materials were absent in
both the sun and oven dried samples. Silicon is present in
both samples and might have been introduced by earthly
Table I. Physical properties of Okra powders and corn starch
Bulk Tapped Particle
density (g/cm3) density (g/cm3) density (g/cm3)
FOP-OV 0.610 0.807 2.124
FOP-SD 0.466 0.561 1.394
Cornstarch 0.541 0.710 1.369
L. G. Bakre and K. T. Jaiyeoba
materials. Oven dried Okra powder had a relatively high
bulk density value which is of advantage in tableting
because of a reduction in the fill volume of the die. Oven
dried sample had higher tapped density value and are
more porous than the sun dried sample. These differences
might be due to different particle shape and differing
percentage of fines both of which significantly affect the
packing arrangement of particles. Table I shows that both
the sun and oven dried Okra powder had greater hydration
and swelling capacities than corn starch. This implies that
the rate of water uptake and the extent of water retention
by the Okra powders are higher than those of corn starch.
Thus, tablets formulated with Okra powders as disintegrants
may be expected to exhibit faster disintegration than
those with corn starch. However, the sun dried sample
had higher hydration and swelling capacities than the
oven dried sample. The high hydration capacity suggests
an ability to hold large amounts of water in the pores
between the powders. Water uptake is known to precede
disintegration process (Caramella et al., 1986; Wan and
Choong, 1986) and several workers have documented the
relationship between the disintegration process and the
development of a disintegrating force inside a compact
(Colombo et al., 1998). Consequently, determination of
swelling capacity as well as the hydration capacity of a
powder will be indicative of its potentials as a tablet
disintegrants (Iwuagwu and Okoli, 1992). Also it may be
expected that the mechanism of action of the Okra
powders would likely be via uptake of large amount of
water which will break interparticulate as well as hydrogen
bonds in the compacts. However, it has been observed
that hydration capacity may not be an absolute index of
disintegrant efficacy (Adebayo and Itiola, 1998a)
Effect of drying methods on compressional character-
istics of Okra powder
The Heckel plots of In (1/1-D) versus the applied
pressure are shown in Fig. 1. The curves for the sun dried
sample and corn starch shows two distinct region; a short
region of rapid increase in density with increase in
compression pressure (32.1 to 83.5) followed by a region
of apparent linearity. This is typical of Type A materials
which consolidate mainly by plastic deformation. The
Heckel plots for the oven dried sample flatten out into a
plateau at all compression pressures. This resembles a
Swelling Hydration %
Capacity Capacity porosity
47.0 6.4 69.7
52.0 7.92 66.6
0.72 1.83 23.8
Effects of Drying Methods on Okra Powder Properties
Fig. 1. Heckel plots for Okra powders and corn starch. FOP-
OV (■ ), corn starch (×), FOP-SD ( ◆).
Type C behavior which is characterized by initial steep –
linear regions which become superimposed and flattens
out as the applied pressure is increased. Both samples are
however without the steep-linear region. The plateau
indicates that further increase in compaction load gave no
further volume reduction within the compacts. This has
been suggested to be due to infinitely small residual space
available for particles to move when stressed (Adolfsson
and Nystrom, 1996). At this phase of extremely low
porosity, the primary particles would be rigidly positioned
relative to each other thereby preventing further re-
positioning under pressure. The Heckel plot of the oven
dried Okra sample showed some points of apparent
decrease in density at pressures above 140 MNm-2. This
may be due to a pronounced elastic recovery which resulted
in expansion (Maarschalk et al., 1996). It is possible that
some work of compression above the peak pressures were
stored as elastic energy (Adolfsson and Nystrom, 1996)
Table II. Parameters obtained from Heckel and Kawakita Plots
Heckel Plots
Materials
Do Py DA
FOP-SD 0.334 1333.2 0.802
FOP-OV 0.303 1280.1 0.593
Corn starch 0.395 1217.4 0.814
263
which resulted in elastic recovery when the pressure was
relieved. Such recovery could result in breakage of some
bonds formed between the particles in a compact.
The mean yield pressure, Py, of the material has been
shown to be the reciprocal of the slope, K, of the Heckle
plot obtained by the “ejected tablet method” (Kim et al.,
1998). It is inversely related to the ability of the material
to deform plastically under pressure. It gives an impres-
sion of the ease of plastic deformation and softness of the
materials i.e. soft, ductile powders have lower yield values.
A low value tends to favour plastic deformation during
compaction as a result of the rebonding of smaller primary
crystals (Niwa et al., 1994; Deodhar, 1998) and also
reflect low resistance to pressure, good densification and
easy compression (Jivraj, 2000). From Table II, the sun
dried Okra sample gave a lower Py than oven dried sample.
This implies that sun dried Okra powder exhibits the
greatest rate of plastic deformation under pressure which
suggests that it may be useful as a direct compressible
diluent. The relative density of the powder bed at the
point when the applied pressure equals zero, Do, is used
to describe the initial re-arrangement phase of densifica-
tion as a result of die filling. The values obtained for Do
imply that the sun dried sample exhibit the highest degree
of initial packing in the die as a result of die filling than
the oven dried. However, both the sun and oven dried
Okra powders gave Do values lower than corn starch.
Powders with large particle size are less cohesive and
free flowing (Staniforth, 1996). The phase of re-arrange-
ment of particles in the early stages of compression i.e.
under low applied pressure is represented by DB. It is
usually a function of particle slippage and re-arrange-
ment. It could also indicate an enhanced rearrangement
by particle fragmentation. The rank order of DB values is
FOP-SD > corn starch > FOP-OV. The high DB value of
FOP-SD may be due to particle de-segmentation i.e
shearing off small individual particles.
The Kawakita plots are shown in Fig. 2. A linear
relationship was obtained at all compression pressures
employed with correlation coefficient of 0.999 for the sun
and oven dried Okra powders, hence the equation can be
used to predict the densification mechanism of the Okra
powders. Pk represents the pressure required to reduce the
powder bed by 50% (Lin and Cham, 1995; Shivinand and
Sprockel, 1992). Low values indicate that the materials
Kawakita Plots
Db Di(1-a) Pk
0.469 0.367 2.216
0.290 0.479 0.990
0.419 0.412 3.528
264 L. G. Bakre and K. T. Jaiyeoba

tion than oven dried Okra powder during compression as

indicated by the lower Py value, it also exhibited the
lowest degree of plastic deformation during compression.
On the other hand, oven dried Okra powder exhibited a
slower onset of plastic deformation but a higher amount
of plastic deformation during compression. With the
phenomenon of plastic deformation being time dependent
(Akande, 1998) it should be of significant benefit to use
a long dwell time for powders with a combination of high
Py but low Pk while materials with a high Py and Pk
values would give compressional problems on virtually
any type of tableting machine and the addition of plastic
material may be necessary in such cases. Thus, sun dried
Okra powder will be more appropriate on a high speed
tablet machine with a short dwell time while a long dwell
time will be preferable for oven dried Okra powders.

Effect of drying methods on mechanical properties of

Fig. 2. Kawakita plots Okra powders and corn starch. FOP- metronidazole tablet
OV (■ ), corn starch (×), FOP-SD ( ◆). Pharmaceutical tablets must have the mechanical strength
to withstand the rigors of handling involved in manufac-
ture, transportation, dispensing and usage. They must also
are soft and readily deform plastically under pressure. in relevant cases, be able to release the drug content in
From Table II, the compactibility of the Okra powders the gastrointestinal tract for absorption. The mechanical
which is inversely related to their Pk values (Kawakita strength of a tablet provides measure of the bonding
and Ludde, 1970/71) was of the rank order FOP-OV > potential and can be evaluated in terms of certain parame-
FOP-SD > Corn starch. It has been established that the ters such as friability, crushing strength (hardness) or tensile
lower the Pk value, the more the total plastic deformation strength. Tablets with inadequate mechanical strength may
that occurs during compression. Although the sun dried be characterized by excessive friability and variation in
Okra powder exhibited a faster onset of plastic deforma- crushing and tensile strength values which may be either
Table III. Values of disintegration time, friability and crushing strength friabrassion/disintegration time index for metroni-
dazole tablet formulation
Conc Crushing strength Disint. time (min)
Sample Friability (F) CS–F/DT
(%w/w) (CS) (DT)
None 0.0 >150N 18.92 0.21 37.75
2.5 44.70 12.38 0.27 12.90
5.0 38.00 11.17 0.91 3.74
7.5 36.70 8.17 0.82 5.48
FOP-SD
10.0 26.00 6.46 0.96 4.19
12.5 21.30 4.54 0.56 8.38
15.0 18.00 6.42 2.33 1.20
2.5 77.00 14.48 0.35 15.19
5.0 57.30 9.92 0.21 27.51
7.5 48.00 8.17 1.44 4.08
FOP-OV
1.0 38.70 7.50 0.52 9.92
12.5 27.30 6.78 0.14 28.76
15.0 22.70 5.92 0.95 4.04
2.5 129.00 3.33 0.61 63.51
5.0 135.30 6.80 0.34 58.52
7.5 126.70 6.30 0.67 30.02
Corn starch
10.0 125.50 5.25 0.66 36.22
12.5 114.70 5.65 0.88 23.07
15.0 104.00 4.50 0.88 26.26
Effects of Drying Methods on Okra Powder Properties
too high or too low. Metronidazole tablets formulated with
corn starch formed harder tablets than those formulated
with the Okra powders (Table III). In addition, there was
a decrease in tablet strength as the concentration of Okra
powder increased in tablets containing Okra powder. This
could be attributed to a decrease in metronidazole particle
–to- particle contacts as a result of increased Okra powder
concentration which consequently resulted in weak bond
formation. Tablets containing the oven dried Okra powder
formed harder tablets than tablets formulated with the sun
dried Okra powder. The friability test is especially impor-
tant because the tablet is likely to be subjected to various
abrasive motions during production and subsequent use.
There are now requirements for it in the British Pharma-
copoeia (BP, 2005) but with no clear limits for acceptance
or rejection of tablet batches probably because the
principles of the test are not understood (Podczeck F and
Sharma, 1996). Generally, metronidazole tablets formulated
with the sun and oven dried Okra powders had friability
values less than 1% except tablets formulated with 15
%w/w FOP-SD and 7.5 %w/w FOP-OV. By convention,
tablets that lose not more than 1% of their weight in the
friability test are usually considered acceptable. In addi-
tion, tablet formulations containing the oven dried Okra
powder are less friable than those formulated with the
sun dried Okra powder. The values of crushing strength
(CS) and friability (F) provide the measures of tablet
strength and weakness, respectively. Thus, the crushing
strength-friability ratio can be useful as an index of tablet
quality. However, the crushing strength-friabrasion/disin-
tegration time ratio (CS-F/DT) has been suggested as a
better index of tablet quality because in addition to mea-
suring tablet strength and weakness, it simultaneously
evaluates any negative effects of these parameters on
disintegration time (Upadrashta et al., 1992).
Metronidazole tablets formulated with oven dried Okra
powder had higher CS-F/DT values than tablets contain-
ing sun dried Okra powders at all the concentrations used
in this study. However, tablets formulated with corn
starch had higher CS-F/DT values than tablets containing
the Okra powders.
Effect of drying method on the release properties of
metronidazole tablets
Tablets containing the Okra powders generally passed
the official disintegration test for uncoated tablets i.e. <15
minutes (BP, 2005). Generally, sun dried Okra powder
had shorter disintegration times than oven dried powder
except at concentrations of 2.5 and 15 %w/w. Tablets
containing the Okra powders showed good dissolution
profile. There was a general increase in dissolution rates
as concentrations increases. Table IV shows the disinte-
gration and dissolution characteristics of metronidazole
265
Table IV. Disintegration and Dissolution characteristics of
Metronidazole tablets containing powders at concentrations
that produced the best dissolution profiles
Powder Conc %w/w DT(min) T50 (min) T90 (min)
FOP-SD 17.5 18.17 5.00 19.80
FOP-OV 12.5 14.48 6.00 17.00
Corn starch 12.5 15.65 3.40 13.00
tablets containing powders at concentrations that produc-
ed the best dissolution profiles. Tablets formulated with
sun dried powder disintegrated faster and had lower T50
values than those containing the oven dried Okra. There
was a fair linear correlation between T50 and disintegra-
tion time, DT, for FOP-OV (r = 0.875, P<0.05) and FOP-
SD (r = 0.858, p< 0.05). All the tablets formulated with
either the sun or oven dried Okra powders passed the
British Pharmacopoeia (BP 2005) specifications for disin-
tegration time of uncoated tablets (<15 minutes) while the
time required for 90% drug release (T90) was also within
one hour which is characteristic of immediate release
formulations. In addition, both the tablets formulated with
sun and oven dried powders passed the BP dissolution
test for tablets which specifies that at least 70% of the
drug substance should be in solution after 30 minutes.
Mechanism of the effects of the drying methods
The differences in the physicochemical properties of
the sun and oven dried Okra powders and the release
properties of their tablets might be as a result of greater
amount of heat absorbed during oven drying than in sun
drying. In oven drying, the materials absorb heat by all
the three mechanisms of heat transfer namely conduction
through the drying tray, convection of the hot air in the
oven and radiation from the walls of the oven. This
generates large amount of heat energy which may cause
rotation of the entire molecules of the okra powder,
vibration of chemical bonds and changes in electron
configuration of the okra powder molecules which may
consequently lead to significant structural changes in the
okra powder molecules. The structural changes in turn
affect the physicochemical properties of the material.
Similar observations were made by Ayanwale et al. (2007)
when they studied the effect of sun-drying and oven
drying on the nutritive value of meat pieces in hot humid
environment. On the other hand, the solar radiation is
transmitted only by radiation, it is unevenly distributed
and it varies in intensity from one geographical location
to the other depending on the latitude, season and time of
the day. Cloud formation may also hinder the overall
atmospheric transmission of solar radiation to a degree
determined by the thickness and density of clouds. Very
dense clouds, about 1000 m in thickness, are said to
266
reflect back into space more than 90% of the incident solar
radiation (Acra, 1994). All these reduce the intensity and
the effect of the total solar radiation that strikes the
particles of the materials exposed to it.
CONCLUSIONS
The study showed that the sun and oven dried powders
had different physicochemical and compressional charac-
teristics that are attributable to the relative amount of heat
absorbed during the drying process. Therefore, the choice
of the drying method during the processing of local phar-
maceutical raw materials is critical to the physiochemical
properties of the material and the release properties of
their tablets.
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