Natural Gum Modified HPMC‐Based Oral Disintegrating Films With Improved Physicomechanical and Drug Delivery Properties

ABSTRACT Oral disintegrating film (ODF) is an effective alternative to conventional oral dosage forms for geriatric and pediatric patients. To enhance patient compliance and ensure a pleasant mouthfeel, a novel plasticizer‐free approach was explored by developing HPMC‐based ODFs, modified by adding natural gums such as gum acacia, tamarind gum (TG), and guar gum (GG). This comparative investigation provides new insight into the potential of natural gums as mechanically reinforcing film‐forming agents when combined with HPMC. The effect of the modification by adding gums with HPMC on different physical and mechanical characteristics, such as disintegration time, folding endurance, mechanical strength, surface pH, ATR‐FTIR spectra, XRD, TGA, contact angle, moisture content, transparency, and surface morphology, was evaluated. Among the formulations, 0.2% gum acacia added with HPMC (HM‐0.2GA) exhibited higher mechanical strength, as well as lower disintegration time and higher folding endurance. Additionally, an in vitro drug release study using folic acid demonstrated that the gum‐modified ODF formulations performed a more controlled release profile, whereas commercial tablets did not exhibit complete release and decreased over time. These findings suggest that natural gum‐modified HPMC‐based ODF can be advantageous for achieving enhanced film integrity and mechanical strength without the use of plasticizers, along with an improved release profile.