A Dragon Fruit Peel Mucilage-Based Fast-Dissolving Oral Film for Scopolamine Hydrobromide Delivery.

Abstract

Background: Motion sickness is associated with sensory conflict and commonly causes nausea and vomiting. Scopolamine is effective for prophylaxis; however, conventional oral administration may be inconvenient during travel. The present study aimed to develop a fast-dissolving oral thin film (FDOF) of scopolamine hydrobromide using dragon fruit peel mucilage as a natural film-forming polymer.Materials and
Methods: Films were prepared by the solvent-casting technique using dragon fruit peel mucilage, HPMC, sodium alginate, plasticizer, and surfactant. Twelve preliminary formulations were prepared and evaluated for film-forming characteristics. The optimized formulation was characterized for physicomechanical properties, surface pH, moisture content, transparency, drug content, disintegration, and in-vitro drug release.
Results: Formulation F12 demonstrated excellent film formation, flexibility, peelability, and uniformity. It exhibited thickness of 0.112 ± 0.003 mm, folding endurance of 327.67 ± 3.51 folds, drug content of 99.33 ± 0.76%, disintegration time of 18.00 ± 1.00 s, and 91.80 ± 1.15% transmittance. Cumulative drug release reached 98.40% within 10 min.
Conclusion: The optimized scopolamine hydrobromide FDOF demonstrated satisfactory mechanical properties, rapid disintegration, excellent drug uniformity, and rapid drug release, indicating its potential as a convenient oral dosage form for motion-sickness management.