TABLETS COATING
1. To mask undesirable taste, odor, or color.
2. To protect the drug from environment.
3. To incorporate another drug in the
coating.
4. To improve the final elegance.
5. To modify the release of the drug.
Coating,,
Tablet Coating Process
Core
Tablet properties
To withstand the sever mechanical stress that
results from striking of tablets with the walls of
the coating machine, the tablet must be strong
enough and be resistant to abrasion. Tablets
that that tend to brittle or soften in the
presence of heat or affected by the coating
materials are unsuitable for table coating.
When the coating materials are applied to the tablets,
the tablet surface becomes covered with a sticky film.
The tablets must be in continuous motion during the
drying phase otherwise, tablets agglomeration can
occur. The ideal tablet shape for coating is a spherical
which allows the tablets to roll freely in coating pan
with minimal tablet-tablet contact. On the other hand,
the worst shape of the tablets is a flat square (coating
materials collect between the surfaces to glue them.
The coating process
Tablet coating is the application of
coating materials to moving tablets with
the concurrent use of heat to facilitate
the evaporation of the solvent.
move
Conventional pan coater: it consists of a
spherical pan rotated by a motor. Heated air
and exhausted by means of ducts. The coating
materials are applied by either ladling or
spraying on tablets. Spraying is more preferred.
It is faster, distribute
the coating materials
more evenly and
reduce the drying time.
Perforated pan coater: it is the most widely
used in tablet coating. It consists of a
perforated drum that rotates in a closed
chamber. Drying air is passed through the
tablets and is exhausted through perforations
in the drum.
Efficient
High coating
capacity
Can be completely
automated
Fluidized bed coater
(air suspension): also
highly efficient system.
Fluidization of tablets is
achieved in a chamber
by upward flow of the
drying air. The coating
solution is continuously
applied from a spray
nozzle.
Types of coatings
I. Sugar coating: Widely used in the past, still used
nowadays due to the excellent appearance. The sugar
coating involves several steps, the duration of which
ranges from few hours to several days. A successful
product greatly depends on the skill of the operator.
This is especially true in the pan-ladling method in
which the coating solution is poured over the tablets.
The sugar coating involves the following steps:
1. Sealing: To prevent moisture penetration into the
tablet core. This is especially needed in pan ladling
processes, in which over wetting of a portion of the
tablets occurs. Without a sealing coat, the over wetted
tablets would absorb excess moisture, leading to
disintegration and affecting the stability of product
2. Subcoating: The subcoating is applied to round
the edges and build up the tablet size. Sugar coating
can increase the tablet weight by 50-100%. The
subcoating step consists of applying a sticky binder
solution (eg. gelatin or sugar solution) to the tablets
followed by a dusting of a powder (e.g. talc powder)
and then drying. Subsequent subcoats are applied in
the same manner until the desired thickness is
achieved.
Gelatin
Sugar
3. Syruping (smoothing/coloring): The purpose of
this step is to hide the imperfections in the tablet
surface and to impart the desired color to the tablet.
This step perhaps requires the most skill. In general,
no color is added until the tablets are quite smooth;
premature application to rough tablets can produce a
mottled appearance in the final tablets.
imperfection
4. Finishing: In the finishing step, a few clear coats
of syrup may be applied.
5. Polishing: The desired shine is obtained in this
step. The tablets can be polished in clean coating
pans by using certain wax (e.g. beeswax).
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Finishing
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Advantages of sugar coating:
Masks the unpleasant taste and makes it easy to
swallow.
It is inexpensive
Retard the loss of volatile ingredients (
Prolong the shelf life of the drug.
Elegant, attractive and glossy finish
Enhance the mechanical strength
Large dosage forms can be easily swallowed
help to control the drug release rate
Possible to incorporate incompatibility drugs
together as a single dose with the help of coating.
II. Film coating technique:
It is more preferred than sugar coating (faster, more
economic, versatility of film forming polymers and
it does not increase the final tablet weight greatly
(2-5%).
1. Pan ladling method: Pan ladling methods have
been used for many years for film coating, but they
have been replaced by newer coating techniques
(spraying) that are faster and more reproducible.
Steps similar to that in sugar coating.
Regardless it is sugar or film coating, the
disadvantages of ladling method are:
a. Relatively slow.
b. Relies heavily on the skill of the operator.
c. Requires long drying period.
d. Aqueous coatings materials are not preferred to
be applied by this method because localized over
wetting.
SLOW PRO
2. Pan spray method: was an evolution in the film coating
process. An important advantage which is automatic control of
the liquid application.
3. Fluidized bed method: Good coating depends on the rate
of the air.
Too high air flow » breakage.
Too low air flow: » the tablets do not move fast enough
wetting may occur.
Coated tablet evaluation
1. Adhesion tests (texture analyzer) measure the force
required to peel the film from the tablet.
2. Crushing strength of coated tablets can be determined
with a tablet hardness tester.
3. The rate of coated tablet disintegration and/or dissolution.
4. Visual inspection
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Materials used in film coating
I. Film formers:
a. Non enteric materials:
Hydroxy Propyl Methyl Cellulose (HPMC): Advantages
(1) Good solubility (organic and aqueous solvent),
(2) noninterference with disintegration and drug availability,
(3) flexibility,
(4) stability in the presence of heat, light, air and moisture,
(5) ability to incorporate color and other additives into the
film. It is ideal polymer for film coating.
HPMC
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b. Enteric materials: The most important reasons :
1. To protect the drug from the stomach
environment, e.g., certain antibiotics.
2. To protect the stomach from the drug, eg.,
salicylates.
3. To deliver drugs intended for local action in the
intestines, e.g., intestinal antiseptics.
TWIN PACK
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Aspirin 81 200 mg
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II. Solvents: The most widely used solvents
(either alone or in combination) are water,
ethanol, chloroform and acetone. Because of
environmental and economic considerations,
water is the solvent of choice; however,
several polymers cannot be applied as
aqueous solutions.
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CHLOROFORM
III. Plasticizers: It improves the flexibility and
adhesion properties of the resulting film.
Without a plasticizer, most of the polymers
tend to pack together in a rigid 3 dimensional
arrangements. Some of the used plasticizers
are castor oil, glycerin, PEG.
FineVine
CASTOR
OIL
IV. Colorants: soluble in the solvent or
suspended as insoluble powders. Color
variation in a product can be readily detected
by patient; therefore, the colors must be
reproducible. Lakes have become the
colorants of choice for coating systems, (more
reproducible colors are achieved).
V. Opaquants: very fine inorganic powders
used in the coating solutions to provide more
pastel colors. The opaquants can provide a
white coating or mask the color of the tablet
core. Example, titanium dioxide.
Titanium
Dioxide
