Artocarpus heterophyllus L. seed starch-blended gellan gum mucoadhesive beads of metformin HCl

Jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus Lam., family: Moraceae) seed starch (JFSS)–gellan gum (GG) mucoadhesive beads containing metformin HCl were developed through ionotropic gelation technique. The effect of GG to JFSS ratio and CaCl2 concentration on the drug encapsulation efficiency (DEE, %) and cumulative drug release at 10 h (R10h, %) was optimized and analyzed using response surface methodology based on 32 factorial design. The optimized JFSS–GG beads containing metformin HCl showed DEE of 92.67 ± 4.46%, R10h of 61.30 ± 2.37%, and mean diameter of 1.67 ± 0.27 mm. The optimized beads showed pH-dependent swelling and mucoadhesivity with the goat intestinal mucosa. The in vitro drug release from all these JFSS–GG beads containing metformin HCl was followed zero-order pattern (R2 = 0.9907–0.9975) with super case-II transport mechanism over a period of 10 h. The beads were also characterized by SEM and FTIR. The optimized JFSS–GG beads containing metformin HCl exhibited significant hypoglycemic effect in alloxan-induced diabetic rats over prolonged period after oral administration.