Abstract
Although probiotics are mostly administered in the form of capsules, there are some advantages of tablets in terms of production effort, cost efficiency and stability of the probiotic bacteria. As probiotics are sensitive to high pressure and temperature, it is essential to select appropriate excipients for direct compression to ensure sufficient viability of the bacteria cells during production and storage. The aim of this study was to investigate the performance of the high functio- nal excipient PROSOLV® EASYtab Nutra for direct compression of probiotic tablets. As PROSOLV® EASYtab Nutra is an all-in- one composite, only one mixing step is required before the compaction which makes the tableting process easy and comfortable. In order to evaluate the performance of PROSOLV® EASYtab Nutra, the survival rate of the bacteria and functional tablet properties were determined and compared to a lactose-based formulation. The study showed that PROSOLV® EASYtab Nutra is considerably better suited for direct compression of probiotic tablets because of the remarkable survival rate of 91.5 % of the bacteria cells as well as the quick disintegration within 18 seconds, which is almost 10 times faster compared to the lactose formulation. Furthermore PROSOLV® EASYtab Nutra is characterized by excellent compactibility and an extremely low friability.
Although probiotics are mostly administered in the form of capsules, there are some advantages of tablets in terms of production effort, cost efficiency and stability of the probiotic bacteria. As probiotics are sensitive to high pressure and temperature, it is essential to select appropriate excipients for direct compression to ensure sufficient viability of the bacteria cells during production and storage. The aim of this study was to investigate the performance of the high functio- nal excipient PROSOLV® EASYtab Nutra for direct compression of probiotic tablets. As PROSOLV® EASYtab Nutra is an all-in- one composite, only one mixing step is required before the compaction which makes the tableting process easy and comfortable. In order to evaluate the performance of PROSOLV® EASYtab Nutra, the survival rate of the bacteria and functional tablet properties were determined and compared to a lactose-based formulation. The study showed that PROSOLV® EASYtab Nutra is considerably better suited for direct compression of probiotic tablets because of the remarkable survival rate of 91.5 % of the bacteria cells as well as the quick disintegration within 18 seconds, which is almost 10 times faster compared to the lactose formulation. Furthermore PROSOLV® EASYtab Nutra is characterized by excellent compactibility and an extremely low friability.