COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE ACID NEUTRALIZING AND BUFFERING CAPACITY OF DIFFERENT ANTACID SUSPENSIONS AVAILABLE IN BENIN CITY, EDO STATE
GODFREY EGHOSA AGHAYERE1*, GODSPOWER AKPOVWOBAA1
- Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy. University of Benin, Benin City, Edo State, Nigeriaia.
Afr. J Pharm Res Dev; Volume 18(1): 446-452; 2026
ABSTRACT
The choice of antacid suspension that will provide prompt, effective and sustainable symptomatic relief from pain due to excessive gastric secretion by physicians for patients remains a major challenge. Both the acid-neutralising capacity (ANC) and buffering capacity (BC) of antacids determined the effectiveness and quality of antacid suspensions. This study was conducted to evaluate and compare the acid-neutralizing and buffering capacities of twenty (20) brands of antacid suspensions from pharmacies in Benin City. The ANC was evaluated using the United States Pharmacopeia (USP) method, while the BC was determined with standard established method by addition of 1.0 N HCl and titrating with 0.1N NaOH at 5 minutes interval up to 50 minutes. The ANC for all the Brands was greater than 5 mEq per dose. The ANC was in the range of 11.30±0.26 to 27.01±0.26 mEq/dose, while the BC was from 5 to 30 minutes. Inferential analysis using Pearson’s Correlation test produced R2 = 0.4375 with β = 0.354. All the antacid suspension brands investigated met the ANC specification limit for effective antacids. However, ANC alone is not the sole determinant of their BC. Rapid, effective, and sustainable antacid activity can be achieved with antacid suspensions containing both aluminium hydroxide and magnesium hydroxide. ANC and BC values should be included on antacids’ labels and hospital formulary to assist physicians, pharmacists and patients in the rational choice of antacid products as well as to facilitate proper prescription policy and provision of optimal pharmaceutical care.
Keywords: Antacids; Gastric Disorder; Acid Neutralizing Capacity, Buffering Capacity
Email of correspondence: godfrey.aghayere@uniben.edu;
https://doi.org/10.59493/ajopred/2026.1.4 ISSN: 0794-800X (print); 1596-2431 (online)