In recent years there has been a worldwide interest on sustainable use of resources. Isolation ofrncellulose from agro-industrial wastes has gained a great deal of interest from scientists andrnresearchers due to its high demand in paper, food, cosmetics, textile and pharmaceuticalrnindustries. In Ethiopia, corn husk (CH), corn cob (CC), and lupine husk (LH) are abundantrnlignocellulosic agricultural wastes. Thus, the objective of this study was to prepare andrncharacterize native cellulose and microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) from corn husk, corn cob, andrnlupine husk and evaluate MCC as directly compressible pharmaceutical excipient. Cellulosernfibers were isolated from corn husk, corn cob, and lupine husk with NaOH and peroxiformic acidrntreatments and MCC was prepared through the hydrolysis of native celluloses using 0.1-M HCl. rnThe isolated celluloses and MCC were characterized by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopyrn(FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), and Thermogravimetricrnanalysis (TGA). The mechanical properties of both plain MCC tablets and mebendazolecontainingrnrnMCC tablets as a model drug were evaluated. The yields of cellulose from CH, CC,rnLH, were 42%, 33%, 36% and CH-MCC, CC-MCC, and LH-MCC, were 80%, 76%, and 78%,rnrespectively. The degree of polymerization (DP) of CH-C, CC-C, and LH-C were 735.73,rn667.29, and 576.75, respectively, while DP of MCC preparations ranged from 247.36 - 315.15.rnThe FTIR spectra of cellulose from CH, CC, and LH were almost similar and MCCs wererncomparable to Avicel PH-101 spectra. The CI values of LH-C (75.39%) was slightly higher thanrnCH-C (74.5%), CC-C (72.86%) and CI of LH-MCC (81.41 %) was lower than Avicel PH-101rn(85.48%) and higher than CH-MCC (78.1%), CC-MCC (77.01%). The SEM pictures of cellulosernshowed micro-fibrillated structure, whereas MCC exhibited rod like shape and irregularrnaggregated particles. All samples of cellulose and MCC showed good thermal stability. All MCCrnpowders showed monomodal normal particle size distribution. Both plain and mebendazolernloaded CH-MCC, CC-MCC, and LH-MCC tablets showed acceptable crushing and tensilernstrength. The disintegration times and drug release profiles of all mebendazole loaded tabletsrnprepared from CH-MCC, CC-MCC, LH-MCC, and Avicel PH-101 were comparable and withinrnthe acceptable Pharmacopeia range. Therefore, CH, CC, and LH could be promising locallyrnavailable potential sources of cellulose and MCC.