Natural polymers in pharmaceutical drug delivery: A review

In pharmaceutical formulation two main ingredients are required which is API and excipient. And excipient contains many components which plays vital role in manufacturing of dosage form as well as improve pharmaceutical parameters of the dosage form. Polymers used in any dosage form as excipient. Polymers have influencing capacity towards drug release and should be compatible, stable, non-toxic and economic etc. Generally, polymers are classified into three categories i.e natural, semi-synthetic and synthetic polymers. Nowadays, many pharmaceutical companies inclined towards using natural polymers due to many problems created with drug release and side effects. Polymers plays various application in formulation as excipient like to provide uniform drug delivery, rate controlling agent, taste masking agent, protective and stabilizing agents, etc. So that this review discuss about various natural polymers, there advantages over synthetic polymers and role of polymers in designing drug delivery system.