Excipients are additives used to convert active pharmaceutical ingredients into dosage forms suitable for administration to patients. Excipients from natural products are also generally non-polluting renewable sources. As herbal excipients are non-toxic and biocompatible, they have a major role to play in pharmaceutical formulation. Natural excipients are primarily used as diluents, binders, disintegrants, adhesives, glidants and sweeteners in conventional dosage forms like tablets, capsules etc. Starch, cellulose derivatives, alginate, pectin, acacia, tragacanth, guar gum are used for formulation of conventional and sustained release tablets. It is now recognized that excipients can potentially influence the rate and/or extent of absorption of a drug. Pharmaceutical scientists have shifted their focus to designing a drug delivery system for herbal medicines using a scientific approach. Advancement in polysaccharides, gums and volatile oils has been made to formulate the novel drug delivery system. Legumin and agarose for micro and nanoparticles, Xyloglucan for fabrication of ophthalmic hydrogels have been studied by investigators to realize the potential of herbal excipients and have ended with promising outcomes. Therefore, down the line, herbal excipients will have a lion share in formulation of user friendly and efficacious pharmaceutical formulations and are expected to largely improve and lead to value addition to pharmaceutical formulations and novel drug delivery systems.
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