Drug delivery and biomedical applications of tamarind seed xyloglucan and its derivatives: a review

The recent trend in the field of drug delivery suggests the need for versatile polymers mainly based on natural resources. Tamarind seed xyloglucan (TSX) is a polysaccharide, obtained from the dried seeds of Tamarindus indica. TSX has found its application in the pharmaceutical, food, and textile industries. Over the past two decades, researchers have shown more interest in this neutral hemicellulose, depending on its physicochemical behavior as an effective drug carrier. This bio-polysaccharide contains a glucan backbone attached to two side chains, galactose and xylose. TSX exhibits in situ gel-forming ability and mucoadhesive behavior. It also offers structural modification of TSX, including graft copolymerization, carboxymethylation, thiolation, sulphation, alkylamination, etc. Depending on modifications, the TSX derivatives are reported to have enhanced viscosity, enhanced mucoadhesive nature, and increased swelling behavior. The chemical modification can also control the rate of hydrolysis and microbial degradation. The applications of native and modified TSX are described in this review, along with several commonly used modification techniques.