Tamarind seed polysaccharide (TS) is derived from the kernel powder of seeds of Tamarindus indica linn.. TS has various pharmaceutical applications, however its application is limited due to uncontrolled rate of hydration, drop in viscosity on storage and susceptibility to microbial contamination. Keeping this in view an attempt was made to overcome some of the disadvantages by suitably grafting the TS with methyl methacrylate (MMA). Chemical method of grafting by potassium per sulphate and ascorbic acid redox pair was selected for grafting. Taguchi L9 design was applied to optimize the grafting process. The grafted product was subjected to physical, chemical and spectral analysis. The physical characterization reveals no drop of viscosity on storage, controlled rate of hydration of Grafted tamarind seed polysaccharide (GTS). The chemical and spectral characterization confirmed the grafting procedure. Metoprolol succinate a low bioavailable (40-50%) drug was selected for the present study and buccal patches were formulated using TS and GTS as polymers. Central composite design was applied to find out the relationship between percentage of TS/GTS and drug release characteristics and to optimize buccal patches with 12 hour drug release. The 2% of TS and 2.86% of GTS buccal patches were able to show a sustain drug release for 12 hours. Invitro, exvivo drug release studies, release kinetics, physical parameter studies for all optimized patch formulations reflect the ideal characteristics of buccal patch for delivery of metoprolol succinate.
