TABLET

INTRODUCTION
Tablet is defined as a compressed solid dosage form, containing medicaments with or
without excipients. Pharmaceutical tablets are solid, flat or biconvex dishes, unit dosage
form, prepared by compressing a drug or a mixture of drugs, with or without diluents.

The advantages of the Tablet dosage form are:

• They are unit dosage form and offer the greatest capabilities of all oral dosage form for
the greatest dose precision and the least content variability.

• Cost is lowest of all oral dosage form.

• Lighter and compact.

• Easiest and cheapest to package and strip.

• Easy to swallow with least tendency for hang-up.

 INTRODUCTION
• Sustained release product is possible by enteric coating.
• Objectionable odor and bitter taste can be masked by coating technique.
• Suitable for large scale production.
• Greatest chemical and microbial stability over all oral dosage form.
• Product identification is easy and rapid requiring no additional steps when employing an embossed
and/or monogrammed punch face.
Disadvantages of Tablet dosage form are:
• Difficult to swallow in case of children and unconscious patients.
• Some drugs resist compression into dense compacts, owing to amorphous nature, low density
character.
• Drugs with poor wetting, slow dissolution properties, optimum absorption high in GIT may be difficult
to formulate or manufacture as a tablet that will still provide adequate or full drug bioavailability.
• Bitter tasting drugs, drugs with an objectionable odor or drugs that are sensitive to oxygen may
require encapsulation or coating. In such cases, capsule may offer the best and lowest cost.
 Different types of Tablets
(A) Tablets ingested orally:
1. Compressed tablet, e.g., Paracetamol tablet
2. Multiple compressed tablet
3. Repeat action tablet
4. Delayed release tablet, e.g. Enteric coated Bisacodyl tablet
5. Sugar coated tablet, e.g. Multivitamin tablet
6. Film coated tablet, e.g. Metronidazole tablet
7. Chewable tablet, e.g. Antacid tablet
 Different types of Tablets
(B) Tablets used in oral cavity:

1. Buccal tablet, e.g. Vitamin-c tablet

2. Sublingual tablet, e.g. Vicks Menthol tablet

3. Troches or lozenges

4. Dental cone

(c) Tablets administered by other routes:

1. Implantation tablet

2. Vaginal tablet, e.g. Clotrimazole tablet

 Tablet Ingredients
In addition to active ingredients, tablet contains a number of inert materials known
as additives or excipients. Different excipients are:
1. Diluent (Filler)
2. Binder
3. Disintegrant
4. Glidant
5. Lubricant
6. Coloring agents
7. Flavoring agents
8. Sweetening agents
 Functions of Excipients
• Impart weight, accuracy, & volume (it allows accuracy of dose)

• Improve solubility

• Increase stability

• Enhance bioavailability

• Modifying drug release

• Assist product identification

• Increase patient acceptability

• Facilitate dosage form design

 Diluents
Diluents are fillers used to make required bulk of the tablet when the drug dosage itself is inadequate
to produce the bulk. Secondary reason is to provide better tablet properties such as improve
cohesion, to permit use of direct compression manufacturing or to promote flow.

A diluent should have following properties:

1. They must be non-toxic

2. They must be commercially available in acceptable grade

3. Their cost must be low

4. They must be physiologically inert

5. They must be physically & chemically stable by themselves & in combination with the drugs.

6. They must be free from all microbial contamination.

7. They do not alter the bioavailability of drug.

8. They must be color compatible.

 Diluents
Commonly used tablet diluents
1. Lactose - anhydrous and spray dried lactose
2. Directly compressed starch
3. Hydrolyzed starch
4. Microcrystalline cellulose (MCC)
5. Dibasic calcium phosphate dehydrate
6. Calcium sulphate dihydrate
7. Mannitol
8. Sorbitol
9. Sucrose
10. Dextrose
 Binders
These materials are added either dry or in wet-form to form granules or to form
cohesive compacts for directly compressed tablet.
Example:
• Acacia, tragacanth- Solution for 10-25% Conc.
• Cellulose derivatives- Methyl cellulose (MC), Hydroxy propyl methyl cellulose
(HPMC), Hydroxy propyl cellulose (HPC)
• Gelatin- 10-20% solution
• Glucose- 50% solution
• Polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP)- 2% conc. (Povidone)
• Starch paste-10-20% solution
• Sodium alginate
• Sorbitol
 Disintegrants
These are added to a tablet formulation to facilitate its breaking or disintegration
when it contacts in water in the GIT.
Example:

• Starch- 5-20% of tablet weight.

• Starch derivative

• Cellulose

• Cellulose derivatives

• Alginate

• Cross-povidone (Polyvinylpyrrolidone), cross-linked PVP

 Super-disintegrants
These swells up to ten-fold within 30 seconds when contact water.
• Example:
- Croscarmellose Sodium - cross-linked cellulose,
- Cross-Povidone - cross-linked Povidone (polymer),
- Sodium starch glycolate - cross-linked starch. These cross-linked products
swell within 30 seconds when in contact with water.

A portion of disintegrant is added before granulation and a portion before

compression, which serve as glidants or lubricant.
 Glidants
Glidants are intended to promote flow of granules or powder material by reducing the
friction between the particles.
- Corn Starch – 5-10% conc., Talc-5% conc.,
- Silica derivative - Colloidal silica such as Cab-O- Sil, Syloid, Aerosil in 0.25-3%
conc.

Lubricants
Lubricants are intended to prevent adhesion of the tablet materials to the surface of
dies and punches, reduce inter particle friction and may improve the rate of flow of
the tablet granulation.
- Stearic acid, Stearic acid salt, Magnesium stearate, Talc, PEG (Polyethylene
glycols), Surfactants
 Coloring agent
The use of colors and dyes in a tablet has three purposes:
(1) Masking of off-color drugs
(2) Product Identification
(3) Production of more elegant product

All coloring agents must be approved and certified by FDA. Two forms of colors are used in tablet
preparation – FD&C and D&C dyes. These dyes are applied as solution in the granulating agent or
Lake form of these dyes. Lakes are dyes absorbed on hydrous oxide and employed as dry powder
coloring.
• Example:
- FD & C yellow 6-sunset yellow,
- FD & C yellow 5- Tartrazine,
- FD & C green 3- Fast Green,
- FD & C blue 1- Brilliant Blue,
- FD & C blue 2 - Indigo carmine
 Flavoring agents:
For chewable tablet- flavor oil is used.

Sweetening agents:
For chewable tablets: Sugar, mannitol, etc.
• Saccharine (artificial): 500 time’s sweeter than sucrose - Disadvantage: Bitter
aftertaste and carcinogenic.
• Aspartame (artificial) - Disadvantage: Lack of stability in presence of moisture.
• Neotame
TABLETTING
PROCESS
 Compression
Tableting procedure
Filling
Compression
Ejection

Tablet compression machines

• Hopper for holding and feeding granulation to be compressed
• Dies that define the size and shape of the tablet
• Punches for compressing the granulation within the dies
• Cam tracks for guiding the movement of the punches
• Feeding mechanisms for moving granulation from the hopper into the dies
Compression
 Compression
Compression cycle
• Granules from hopper empty in the feed frame containing several interconnected
compartments.
• These compartments spread the granulation over a wide area to provide time for the dies
to fill.
• The pull-down cam guides the lower punches to the bottom, allowing the dies to overfill
• The punches then pass over a weight-control cam, which reduces the fill in the dies to the
desired amount
• A swipe off blade at the end of the feed frame removes the excess granulation and directs
it around the turret and back into the front of the feed frame
• The lower punches travel over the lower compression roll while simultaneously the upper
punches ride beneath the upper compression roll
• The upper punches enter a fixed distance into the dies, while the lower punches are raised
to squeeze and compact the granulation within the dies
 Compression
Compression cycle
• After the moment of compression, the upper punches are withdrawn as they follow the
upper punch raising cam
• The lower punches ride up the cam which brings the tablets flush with or slightly above the
surface of the dies
• The tablets strike a sweep off blade affixed to the front of the feed frame and slide down a
chute into a receptacle
•At the same time, the lower punches re-enter the pull-down cam and the cycle is repeated
• The principle modification from earlier equipment has been an increase in production rate
which is regulated by
– Number of tooling sets
– Number of compression stations
– Rotational speed of the press