Recent advancements in xanthan gum-based gastroretentive floating formulations: Chemical modification, production and applications

Non-toxic, biocompatible, biodegradable, and bioadhesive, characteristics, of natural polysaccharides, are widely recognized and well accepted. Their usage in dietary, medicinal, biomedical, and cosmetic, applications is due to their unique and fascinating attributes. Xanthan gum, a microbial polysaccharide possesses diverse-wonderful features. It is a naturally occurring heteropolysaccharide, with large molecular weight, derived from the Gram-negative bacteria, Xanthomonas Campestris. This biopolymer has been studied extensively as a matrix for tablets, nanoparticles, microparticles, hydrogels, and various other formulation types. However, indigenous xanthan gum has its own set of restrictions, which may be overcome by chemical modification, to fine-tune the characteristics of the native gum, for attaining unmet demands. This approach has huge potential in the drug delivery and numerous other promising applications. The objective of this review is to provide a consolidated source of information on xanthan gum-based gastroretentive systems. Several approaches of floating techniques, with recent research avenues and patents, utilizing the natural polysaccharide xanthan gum is also discussed.