A novel bitter masking approach: Powder coating technology-take Sanhuang tablets as an example
Sanhuang tablets (SHT) had a broad antibiotic spectrum with high efficiency and low toxicity. However, the clinical application was seriously limited by extremely bitter taste.
A novel powder coating technology was established to mask the bitter taste of Sanhuang powder (SHP). Initially, the type and particle size of coating material, coating time and the ratio of coating material were investigated. The microstructure of composites was characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), contact angles (CAs), infrared ray spectrogram (IR) and surface elemental analysis.
Furthermore, chemical measurement and electronic tongue test were applied to evaluate the masking effect. As a result, starch was chosen as the best coating material, and the optimal ratio of SHP and starch was 6.5:3.5 with grinding together for 2 min in vibromill. The composites and starch shared the same characteristics of infrared spectroscopy and surface properties.
The microstructure demonstrated that small particles of starch was successfully coated on the surface of the SHP. The experimental results revealed that powder coating technology can be used to taste masking without coating the surface of the tablets. In addition, it provides a new strategy for taste masking of national medicine. More on taste masking