International Research Journal of Pure and Applied Chemistry

Aim: The quest for unveiling the potentials of underutilized tropical starches as nanoparticle disintegrants in drug delivery system was the focus of this research work.

Place of Study: The analyses were carried out in the laboratory of Chemistry Department, University of Medical Sciences, Ondo, Nigeria.

Methodology: Native starch of jack bean (Cavanalia ensiformis) was impregnated with iron (II, III) oxide via co-precipitation method, using glutaraldehyde as a crosslinker. The native starch and iron oxide starch nanoparticles were evaluated for swelling properties, FTIR patterns, morphologies and XRD patterns.

Results: The swelling powers of the native starch and the magnetic starch nanoparticles were affected altered between pH 2 and 12. O–H stretching appeared at 3242 cm^-1 and 3265.1 cm^-1; C–H stretching at 2926.7 cm^-1 and 2926.0 cm^-1 and C–O stretching at 1077.2 cm^-1 and 1077.2 cm^-1 absorption bands for native starch and starch nanoparticles respectively. C–O–C stretching of glycosidic bonds was observed at 1148 cm^-1 for both samples. The native starch had non-uniform shapes, appearing as a mix of oval, spherical and polygonal shapes while non-uniform rock-like granules with evidences of strata were obtained for starch nanoparticles. X-ray diffraction peaks of 24.04°, 18.32° and 33.95° 2θ were obtained for native starch while 24.00°, 18.24° and 57.36° 2θ for starch nanoparticles. The crystallinity indexes of the native starch and starch nanoparticles were 81.01% and 87.30% respectively. The same trend was obtained for their crystallite sizes.

Conclusion: The magnetic starch nanoparticles studied could be possible source of disintegrants for drug formulations and delivery. They could as well be applied in water treatment technology.