Fenugreek & Flax Seeds Mucilages Used as a Pharmaceutical Binder

The objective of the present investigation was to isolate, characterize and compare the Pharmaceutical applications of mucilage isolated from flax seed (Linum Usitatissimum L.) and fenugreek seed (Trigonella foenum graceum L.). Flax is an annual plant of the linaceae family and fenugreek is an annual herb of leguminosae family. These plants have been used since very long time for their medicinal values. Both these plants contain natural polysaccharides which have been employed as food and pharmaceutical excipients because of their bio-compatibility, biodegradability, easy availability and low cost. Fenugreek seeds and flax seeds produce high viscosity mucilage at low concentration levels. The FNM and FXM can be incorporated as a binder, disintegrant, suspending agent, emulsifying agent, direct compression polymer, matrixing agent in novel drug delivery systems.