2.4. Mucoadhesion of the Tablets

The mucoadhesive properties of the tablets were analyzed using a TA.XT Plus Texture Analyser (Stable Micro System, Surrey, UK). Freshly isolated porcine buccal mucosal tissues taken from female Great White pigs were obtained from local abattoir. Before each test, the tissue was equilibrated at 37 ± 0.5 °C in a solution simulating saliva (0.43 g NaCl, 0.22 g CaCl₂, 0.75 g KCl, 0.20 g NaHCO₃ and 0.9 g KH₂PO₄ dissolved in 1 L of deionized water, pH 6.75) [23]. The tablets were manually attached to the texture analyzer probe by using double-sided adhesive tape. The porcine tissue was set on the mucoadhesion rig and moisturized with artificial saliva. The tablets were put in contact with the mucosa for 1 min with a downward force of 0.1 N. Then, the probe was withdrawn from the tissue at a 1 mm·s⁻¹. Each experiment was repeated at least three times, the detachment force and the total work of adhesion, calculated from the area under the detachment curve, were measured. Mucoadhesion results were analyzed using one way, non-paired ANOVA (analysis of variance) with Tukey test.