Evaluation of acetylated moth bean starch as a carrier for controlled drug delivery

► Hydrophobic polymers are extensively used as matrix former in controlled drug delivery. ► We have synthesized a new hydrophobic polymer using acetylation of native moth bean starch. ► The hydrophobic polymer was evaluated as controlled release excipient for pharmaceutical formulation development. ► The results revealed that the acetylated moth bean starch can be used as controlled release polymer. The present investigation concerns with the development of controlled release tablets of lamivudine using acetylated moth bean starch. The acetylated starch was synthesized with acetic anhydride in pyridine medium. The acetylated moth bean starch was tested for acute toxicity and drug–excipient compatibility study. The formulations were evaluated for physical characteristics like hardness, friability, % drug content and weight variations. The in vitro release study showed that the optimized formulation exhibited highest correlation (R) value in case of Higuchi kinetic model and the release mechanism study proved that the formulation showed a combination of diffusion and erosion process. There was a significant difference in the pharmacokinetic parameters (Tmax, Cmax, AUC, Vd, T1/2 and MDT) of the optimized formulation as compared to the marketed conventional tablet Lamivir®, which proved controlled release potential of acetylated moth bean starch.