Evaluation of some physicochemical properties of <i>Bombax gum</i>

Abstract

Gum was extracted from the dried calyx of Bombax ceiba by two methods, hot and cold water processes. The gum obtained was subjected to some physicochemical tests using acacia gum for comparison. The hot water extract yielded more gum. The result of particle size distribution  showed that 44.3% of hot water extract (HE), 30.4% of cold water extract (CE), and 49.3% of acacia gum (AC) were made of particles less than 150μm in size. Their packing and flow characteristics were evaluated and found as follows; bulk and tapped densities values were in order of AC > HE > CE, while Hausner’s Quotient was in the order of CE > HE > AC. Both HE and CE had Carr’s compressibility value above 40% while AC had about 27%.The packing fraction and porosity values for HE and CE were the same while their angle of repose measurements showed that HE > CE > AC. Their true densities were in order of AC > HE > CE. The hydration capacity of HE, CE and AC  were 17.9, 16.7 and 4.7 respectively, while their swelling indices were 7.9, 7.6 and 2.8 respectively. HE, CE and AC had percentage fat content of 5.92%, 5.13% and 4.18%. The porosity of AC was 48%, while HE and CE had the same value of 87%. The relative viscosity of HE was found to approximately triple with every 0.9% increase in concentration, that of CE doubles while the viscosity of AC increases with about 0.2 units. These findings showed that the gum from Bombax ceiba  possess interesting physicochemical properties that make it candidate for pharmaceutical use.

Keywords: Bombax ceiba, packing and flow characteristics, hydration and swelling capacities, viscosities

Journal of Pharmacy and Bioresources, Vol. 6 no. 2, pp. 38-42 (September 2009)