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The use of multifunctional excipients is gaining interest as it simplifies formulations by replacing the need of multiple monofunctional excipients. In previous work, coprocessed chitin-calcium carbonate (CC) showed to have good potential as a multifunctional excipient for fast disintegrating tablets produced by direct compression. It allowed for good tablet strength, enhanced powder flowability, and higher true and bulk densities with fast disintegrating properties. The objective of this work is to gain insight on CC tableting properties under different tablet manufacturing conditions (different lubrication levels, compression speeds, and dwell times) and in formulations with drug models: ibuprofen and paracetamol. Results showed that CC exhibited good tabletability, compressibility, and compactibility profiles. CC does not require the addition of lubricant and can be used at high compression speeds and different dwell times. When included in formulations with ibuprofen and paracetamol at different percentages, CC enhanced tablets strength and promoted fast disintegration and drug dissolution. In conclusion, this study shows that CC can be used as a multifunctional excipient (filler-disintegrant-binder) for fast disintegrating tablets produced by direct compression., (Copyright © 2019 American Pharmacists Association®. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Owing to the increasing interest in multifunctional excipients for tableting, coprocessing of individual excipients is regularly used to produce excipients of improved multifunctionality superior to individual excipients or their physical mix. The use of chitin as an excipient in tablet formulation is limited because of certain drawbacks such as poor flowability and low true density. The objective of this work is to improve these properties through coprocessing of chitin with calcium carbonate (CaCO 3 ) by precipitating CaCO 3 on chitin particles using different methods. In addition, optimization of the coprocessed chitin was carried out to improve the excipient's properties. Physicochemical (CaCO 3 content, true density, X-ray diffraction, infrared spectroscopy, and scanning electron microscopy) and functional testing (swelling force, flowability, tensile strength, deformation mechanism, and disintegration time) were used to characterize the coprocessed product. Results showed that the calcite CaCO 3 polymorph is precipitated on the chitin surface and that it interacts with chitin at carbonyl- and amide-group level. In addition, the coprocessed excipient has an improved true density and powder flowability, with CaCO 3 forming single layer on the chitin particles surface. Tableting studies showed that the coprocessed powder exhibited an intermediate deformation behavior between CaCO 3 (most brittle) and chitin (most plastic). Tablets showed acceptable tensile strength and rapid disintegration (2-4 s). These results show the potential use of coprocessed chitin-CaCO 3 as a multifunctional excipient for fast disintegration of tablets produced by direct compression., (Copyright © 2018 American Pharmacists Association®. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Disintegrants are used as excipients to ensure rapid disintegration of pharmaceutical tablets and further ensure proper dissolution of the active pharmaceutical ingredient. This study investigates disintegration mechanisms of chitin and common disintegrants. Swelling assessment (swelling force and swelling ratio) in different media, and compaction behavior (pure or mixed with other excipients) tabletability, deformation (Heckel modeling), and compact disintegration times were investigated on the tested disintegrants (alginic acid calcium salt, crospovidone, sodium starch glycolate, croscarmellose sodium, and chitin). Results show that the physicochemical properties of the disintegration medium such as pH and ionic strength, as well as other formulation ingredients, affect the disintegrant functionalities. Heckel analysis using the mean yield pressure "Py" shows that alginic acid calcium salt is the most brittle among the studied disintegrants, while crospovidone has the most plastic deformation mechanism, followed by chitin. Chitin showed good tabletability and disintegration properties that were not influenced by the physicochemical formulation environment. Chitin is largely available and easily modifiable and thus a promising material that could be used as a multifunctional excipient in tablet formulation., (Copyright © 2017 American Pharmacists Association®. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)