This research was designed to study the potentials of Sesamum radiatum, a natural gum for use as a tablet binder in metronidazole tablet formulation by wet granulation method. The S. radiatum was extracted from the dried leaves weighing 500g, it was soaked in hot distilled water for 3 hours and extracted through a calico cloth. The solution obtained was precipitated with acetone in a ratio of 1:1, dried on a tray for 2 hours then transferred to a Gallenkamp hot air oven at 45°C for 72 hours. It was size reduced in mortar with pestle and percentage yield was calculated. Granules of both the S. radiatum and Gelatin gum at (0.5%,1%, 1.5%, 2%, 2.5%) binder concentrations were prepared. Granule analyses and properties of prepared tablets were evaluated. Tablets of 500mg were compressed with 12mm punch size at 6MT and 7MT compression pressure for both S. radiatum and Gelatin respectively. The percentage yield obtained was 8.2% which is a low yield. The organoleptic properties of S. radiatum extract have a fine texture, odorless, and insoluble in cold distilled water but soluble in hot and boiling water for both samples. An average flow rate of S. radiatum was found to be 3.73 g/sec, an average Carr’s index of 16.92%, an average Hausner’s ratio was found to be 1.28, and an angle of repose of 27.2° which were compared with those of standard Gelatin and found to be in the same range. The mean tablet weight of S. radiatum was 504.4±5mg, tablets evaluation showed that an increase in binder concentration corresponded to an increase in crushing strength and disintegration time at an average of 9.36±6.5KgF and 26.73minutes respectively, while the friability was found to be at 0.81%. This showed a significant difference in terms of crushing strength and disintegration in comparison to those of Gelatin. The disintegration time of S. radiatum for all batches exceeded the 15-minute standard. The dissolution test of both S. radiatum and Gelatin formulation was more or less similar in release profile. The peak both for S. radiatum and of Gelatin was at 15 minutes.

Keywords: Sesamum radiatum, Gelatin, binder concentration, crushing strength, friability, disintegration time, dissolution rate.