PRODUCTION AND EVALUATION OF THERMALLY ACTIVATED COW BONE POWDER AS DIRECT COMPRESSIONAL TABLET EXCIPIENT

Various excipient materials are used in the direct compression of tablets. These include microcrystalline cellulose, anhydrouse lactose and dicalcium phosphate, marketed as Emcompress. Emcompress is popular because it does not absorb moisture when exposed to highly humid environment, and blend well with other directly compressible materials with excellent results. At present, dicalcium phosphate Emcompress is imported into the country with its attendant logistic problems, and c ost implication, there is therefore need to source for local alternatives of dicalcium phosphate. Bones, particularly cow bones (femur, tibia and humerus), known to contain substantial source of calcium phosphate were investigated in this study for the production of directly compressible tablets. Freshly, trashable and therefore more cheaply sourced cow long bones were subjected to furnace heat at 750 0 C, 850 0 C and 950 0 C (which were below the 1670 0 C melting point of calcium phosphate) for 9 hours. The products were pulverized to form activated bone powder (ABP). The resul ts show that irrespective of the furnace (activation) temperatures (750 0 C, 850 0 C and 950 0 C), the loss in weight of the bone and the mean particle size of comminuted bone through 1.7mm sieve were not significantly different, with an average of 39.17±0.5% and 181 µm respectively. Both ABP and marketed DCP were incompressible at compaction pressure of 3-10 MT force, with 12.5 mm diameter punch and die. However, at equilibrium moisture content of 3.0%, the ABP compressed at 4MT, while the DCP was still incompressible. It would be inferred that the heat activation has turned the bone material more compressible. This work has clearly shown that ABP impact compressibility properties and is useful as a compressible diluent for both low and high dose tablet formulations.