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In this paper, agricultural waste (corn stover and wheat straw) was used for isolation of microcrystalline cellulose (MCC). Lignocellulosic biomass is widely available and applying smart technologies to valorise it will have a double benefit through environmental protection and achieving high-performance materials for targeted applications. The obtained MCC showed excellent features in terms of purity, physical-chemical properties and safety, as well. The methods applied for characterizing the materials were as follows: FT-IR, SEM, ICP-AAE and IC. Then, tablets were made by the compression method, using the isolated and purified MCC, as well as its commercially available counterpart. Excellent technological characteristics were confirmed by testing material compaction, compactibility, compressibility and drug release. This was one of the first tests in which Gamlen Tableting D was applied, especially in the case of using biomass, in the first phase, with prospects of application at a large scale, particularly, in the pharmaceutical industry.

In this paper, the separation of metoprolol tartarate enantiomers using conventional achiral chromatography was followed employing experimental design 24. Design was useful tool in evaluation of chromatographic behavior of enantiomers. For the separation, Supelcosil LC18 4.6 mm × 250 mm, 5 m particle size column was used. UV detection was performed at 275 nm. Because of the large number of factors which can influence chromatographic separation, in preliminary study ″one factor at a time″ method was applied to define values of important factors. As outputs, retention factor, selectivity factor and resolution factors were chosen. Chromatographic behavior of investigated enantiomers was affected by acetonitrile content, chiral modificator content in the mobile phase and flow rate the most, demonstrated by obtained linear models. On the basis of results from screening of experiment, factors with strong influence on the separation, were analyzed in method optimization applying response surface methodology (RSM). The appropriate region of chromatographic behavior of metoprolol tartarate enantiomers was defined using three-D graphs and analysis of variance. The methodology proposed represents an efficient approach in resolving the problem of searching for optimal HPLC chromatographic conditions via experimental design.

We report the application of diatom as a solid carrier for water insoluble drugs applied in oral drug delivery system based on the self-emulsifying drug delivery system (SEDDS) caprylocaproyl macrogol-8 glycerides/lecithin/propylene glycol/caprylic/capric triglyceride. Diatoms are fossilized skeletons of photosynthetic algae with complex 3-dimensional (3D), porous structure consisting of amorphous silica, obtained by purification of diatomaceous earth. Different solid samples of carbamazepine (CBZ) suspension in SEDDS, called solid self-emulsifying phospholipid suspension (SSEPS), were prepared using two methods: adsorption of CBZ dispersion in SEDDS by gentle mixing with diatoms in mortar with pestle (Method A) or dispersion of diatoms in ethanol solution of CBZ and SEDDS components, followed by ethanol evaporation (Method B). Release rate of CBZ from SSEPS was significantly higher in comparison to pure drug, physical mixture of diatoms and CBZ as well as solid dispersion of pure CBZ and diatoms obtained by ethanol evaporation. The dissolution of CBZ from SSEPS sample prepared using method B was faster than from the sample prepared by the method A. Higher dissolution for sample prepared by the method B can be attributed to the partial adsorption (deeper localization) of liquid material inside the pores of diatoms. Upon storage of the samples under accelerated conditions (40 °C and 70% RH) for 10 weeks no significant changes in CBZ crystallinity and dissolution was in case of SSEPS, contrary to solid dispersion with increased crystallinity, indicating that diatoms with adsorbed liquid CBZ-loaded SEPS can maintain initial CBZ characteristics. Refereed/Peer-reviewed