Starch extracted from tacca involucrata was modified by preparing its citrate derivative by reacting the tacca starch with citric acid at elevated temperatures. The starch citrate was found to be a white, crystalline and non – hygroscopic powder with a percentage yield of 75.7 %. It was insoluble in water and had a swelling capacity of 11.9 at 85 OC in water. It did not gelatinize when heated at 100 OC in water for 30 min. It has a browning temperature of 223.5.0 – 231.2 OC, charring temperature of 251.7 – 258.9 OC, water absorption capacity of 83.25 %, pH of 4.7, foam and emulsion capacities of 4.2 % and 7.8 % respectively. The photomicrograph shows that the starch citrate granule is oval in shape, generally small sized with occasional large ones. Generally, the physicochemical properties of tacca starch citrate indicate that it might be a better disintegrant than native tacca starch in tablet formulations
