Natural Polymers and Their Applications in Fast Dissolving Tablets: A Comprehensive Review

The oral route is the most preferred method of pharmaceutical delivery across all age groups due to its safety, convenience, and cost-effectiveness. This preference has driven innovation in fast-dissolving tablets (FDTs), or mouth-dissolving tablets (MDTs), which dissolve rapidly in the mouth without water, addressing issues faced by patients with swallowing difficulties, including pediatric and geriatric populations.

FDTs offer significant advantages over traditional dosage forms, enabling rapid breakdown in the buccal cavity for direct absorption through the buccal mucosa, ensuring quick therapeutic effects. This rapid disintegration and absorption enhances bioavailability and hastens drug effects by bypassing the gastrointestinal tract and first-pass metabolism.

This review examines the formulation, mechanism, advantages, and challenges associated with FDTs, including their properties and various preparation methods like freeze-drying, tablet molding, and spray drying. Special emphasis is placed on natural polymers, such as starch, chitin, chitosan, alginates, and xanthan gum, and various mucilages, derived from plants, animals, and microorganisms. These polymers are valued for their biocompatibility, biodegradability, and non-toxic properties, serving as binders, disintegrants, taste-masking agents, and stabilizers.

The review also explores regulatory considerations, emphasizing safety, efficacy, and quality control when using natural polymers. This review highlights recent advances in developing new natural polymers, sustainable sourcing practices, and improvements in extraction and purification technologies.

In conclusion, natural polymers significantly enhance FDT formulations, improving patient compliance and therapeutic outcomes. This review underscores their critical role in the evolving landscape of fast-dissolving drug delivery systems.