Evaluation of the Emulsifying Property of Detarium Microcarpum Gum in Ibuprofen Emulsion Formulations

Abstract

An emulsion is a mixture of two or more immiscible liquids that adopt a macroscopic homogeneous aspect and a microscopic heterogeneous one under specific transforming processes. In an emulsion, one liquid is dispersed in the other and an emulsifying agent is usually added to stabilize it i.e., to prevent the immiscible layers of the mixtures from separating. In this study, the emulsifying property of Detarium microcarpum gum (DMG) in ibuprofen emulsion formulations was evaluated. DMG was obtained from the seeds of the plant through acetone precipitation of the filtrate obtained from distilled water maceration of powdered Detarium microcarpum seeds. Six Ibuprofen emulsions were formed using tragacanth, DMG or a combination the two as the emulsifying agent. Some of the formulations contained methyl paraben, propyl paraben, vanilla and tartrazine. Physicochemical properties such as pH, viscosity and the type of the emulsions, were evaluated. The pH of the emulsions ranged from 4.5 to 4.8 on the first day and 4.0 to 5.6 on day 15. The viscosity at 28^oC ranged from 1200 to 5400 mPas on day 0 and 1370 to 5400 mPas on day 15. The emulsions were of the oil-in-water type and they exhibit shear thinning behaviour. DMG was used to prepare ibuprofen emulsions with good physicochemical properties that were comparable to those produced using tragacanth as the emulsifying agent.