Application of Starch and Starch Derivatives in Pharmaceutical Formulation

Starch is a homo-glucose unit connected with glycosidic linkage. It is well known for its biodegradability, renewability, low cost, flexibility, and availability. However, to reach its potential in the pharmaceutical application, modification is necessary to solve the problem of solubility, retrogradation, and loss of viscosity. In this chapter, we discuss the different physical, chemical, enzymatic, and biotechnological modifications and their subsequent pharmaceutical application both as an excipient and directly as drug delivery vehicles. Overall, there were different characteristics conferred in a modification which were exploited in pharmaceutics, drug delivery, and antimicrobial preparation. We, however, believe that collation of the data on modification would go a long way toward standardizing the application of the modified products.