OPTIMIZATION, EVALUATION AND STABILITY STUDY OF NUTRACEUTICAL POWDER FORMULATIONS DEVELOPED FROM EDIBLE SEED AND LEAFY- VEGETABLE SOURCES

Nutraceutical term is a combination of terms nutrient and pharmaceutical. There is a wide scope in applying pharmaceutical formulation parameters to nutraceuticals. Amongst the variety of nutraceuticals available, powder form of nutraceuticals are most popular. The nutraceutical powder mixtures can contain many ingredients, of which the nutrient source contents are generally present in more than 50% of whole formula. Optimization of the powder formulations for pharmaceutical and organoleptic parameters is the needed approach. Under this study optimization, evaluation, and stability study of nutraceutical powder formulations developed from edible seed and leafy vegetable sources is done. The research done involves development of two nutraceutical powder formulations one from edible seed sources namely – Cucumis melo, Punica granatum and Linum usitatissimum in 1:1:1 proportion, and second from green leafy vegetable sources namely Trigonella foenum graecum, Coriandrum sativum, Raphanus raphanistrum and Anethum graveolens in 1:1:1:1 proportion. The seeds and leafy vegetables selected were screened for macro and micronutrient content, prebiotic and antioxidant potential. Its in-vivo effect is measured as blood parameters and antiproliferative (anticancer potential) activity. The combination of the seeds and leafy vegetables proved more potent than individual source, and so the combination was used to develop a nutraceutical powder mixture formula. Excipients were added to improve taste, flavor and dispersing agents. These formulations were optimized using design expert software and three-level factorial designs. The accelerated stability study of the optimized batch showed that the formulations were stable.