Dammar Gum: A novel Pharmaceutical Excipient

Natural materials have attracted considerable attention for drug delivery applications due to their abundant availability, compatibility with environment and degradation under natural or physiological conditions. Natural gum resins have been used since ancient times for a wide range of applications: varnishes, sealant, binding media and waterproofing. The most commonly used resins for plant and varnishes are Rosin, Sandarac, Dammar, Mastic and Copal. Gum Dammar is a natural resinous material of plant Shorea javanica, family ¿ Dipterocarpaceae. It contains about 40% alpha-resin (resin that dissolves in alcohol), 22% beta-resin, 23% dammarol acid and 2.5% water. This book deals with the research carried out on Dammar gum for its utility as pharmaceutical excipient. The various chapters of the book deals with characterization of dammar gum, its use as film forming, coating & microencapsulating agent, along with its biodegradation, biocompatibility and drug interaction studies.