The effect of bleaching on the disintegrant properties of maize starch

Maize starch BP and a locally sourced maize starch were bleached with sodium hypochlorite solution and hydrogen peroxide. Each of the unbleached and bleached starches was used to formulate magnesium trisilicate tablets as the disintegrant at the 5.0%, 7.5% and 10.0% levels using the wet granulation method. Assessment of the tablets produced showed that tablets containing the bleached starches disintegrated faster than those containing the unbleached starches. This observation is explained by the faster rate of water uptake by tablets containing bleached starches. There was no discernible difference between the effect of the bleaches used.