A QUALITY BY DESIGN APPROACH: DEVELOPMENT AND EVALUATION OF HERBAL HYDROGEL

The current study was undertaken to formulate and evaluate herbal hydrogel containing ethanolic seed extract of plant Coix lacryma jobi L. Hydrogel was prepared by ethanolic seed extract, carbapol 934p, aloevera gel extract, triethanolamine and methylparaben. The effects of critical parameters (concentration of Carbapol 934p and Aloe vera gel extract) were investigated by executing design of the experiment using 3² factorial designs through Design Expert 12 version software. All the formulations were developed and evaluated for visual inspection, pH, viscosity, spreadability, drug release and drug content. Optimized formulation was subjected to in-vitro antifungal activity against Candida albicans. It was observed that formulation variables X₁: Carbapol 934p and X₂: Aloeveragel extract significantly affected the response Y₁: Viscosity (cp) and Y₂: Drug release (% Drug release). Stability studies conducted under accelerated conditions and at room temperature were shown acceptable results. It was concluded that hydrogel containing coix ethanolic seed extract showed good consistency, spreadability, homogeneity, and stability. This study confirmed that quality by design is an effective approach for understanding the quality parameters for optimizing Hydrogel formulation.