Processing of Malus sylvestris and its temperature stability in triturates involving some pharmaceutical excipients

Abstract

Apple fruits were processed by mashing and drying at 50, 70, 80 and 100 oC in a thermostated oven. The dried powders were then stored in air-tight transparent plastic containers for further analysis. Stability / incompatibility studies on apple powder with some tablet excipients were carried out by mixing 1 part of the powder dried at 70 oC with 1.5 parts of lactose, 3 parts of gelatin, 0.5 part of magnesium stearate, or 4.3 parts of sodium carboxymethyl cellulose, which was the ratio of each agent at which the triturate started flowing. Each mixture was heated at 70 oC for a total of 7hours. Some organoleptic properties of each treated mixture were then evaluated. Drying the apple at 100 oC for a shorter period gave better results than drying at 55 oC for a longer period. The stability studies revealed all the mixtures were relatively stable at 70 oC when each mixture was heated for not more than 2 hours.