PRODUCTION OF GELATIN CAPSULES FOR MEDICINES

Over the past few years, capsule filling technology has undergone significant changes in the pharmaceutical industry. The basic idea of capsule filling has expanded from filling with solid forms to filling with liquid forms. Until recently, soft gelatin capsules were the only alternative for encapsulating difficult-to-dissolve dosage forms. Today, new technologies have been developed for filling solid gelatin capsules with liquid medicinal substances and sealing them as an alternative replacement for soft gelatin capsules. This simplifies the process of filling capsules and helps to avoid many problems associated with filling soft gelatin capsules. The fundamental differences between the filling of hard and soft gelatin capsules are as follows. Moisture content. In solid gelatin capsules, the moisture content can reach up to 50%. Soft gelatin capsules consist of a plasticizer that retains up to 30% moisture. As a result, the moisture absorption capacity of soft gelatin capsules is much higher than that of solid ones. Another property of the plasticizer is the migration of the filler into the walls of a soft gelatin capsule, which can lead to a change in the formula of the medicinal...