Development of a simple analytical methodology for determination of glucosamine release from modified release matrix tablets

A simple spectrophotometric method for determination of glucosamine release from sustained release (SR) hydrophilic matrix tablet based on reaction with ninhydrin is developed, optimized and validated. The purple color (Ruhemann purple) resulted from the reaction was stabilized and measured at 570 nm. The method optimization was essential as many procedural parameters influenced the accuracy of determination including the ninhydrin concentration, reaction time, pH, reaction temperature, purple color stability period, and glucosamine/ninhydrin ratio. Glucosamine tablets (600 mg) with different hydrophilic polymers were formulated and manufactured on a rotary press. Dissolution studies were conducted (USP 26) using deionized water at 37 ± 0.2 °C with paddle rotation of 50 rpm, and samples were removed manually at appropriate time intervals. Under given optimized reaction conditions that appeared to be critical, glucosamine was quantitatively analyzed and the calibration curve in the range of 0.202-2.020 mg (r = 0.9999) was constructed. The recovery rate of the developed method was 97.8-101.7% (n = 6). Reproducible dissolution profiles were achieved from the dissolution studies performed on different glucosamine tablets. The developed method is easy to use, accurate and highly cost-effective for routine studies relative to HPLC and other techniques.