연질캡슐 피막물질로서 식물성 성분 원료와 젤라틴의 대한 품질특성 비교

Comparative Characterization Study on Quality Attributes of Vegetable and Gelatin as Capsule Shell of Soft Capsule

A Softgel is an oral dosage form for medicine similar to capsules and softgel dosage form offers several advantages over other oral dosage forms, such as delivering a liquid matrix designed to solubilize and improve the oral bioavailability of a poorly soluble compound as a unit dose solid dosage form, delivering low and ultra-low doses of a compound. This study aimed to qualify a proprietary vegetable soft capsule which contains modified starch and carrageenan as capsule shell components compare to the conventional gelatin softgel. Four kinds of samples were prepared with vegetable and gelatin capsule shell, respectively. Morphology of capsule shell, mechanical strength of capsule, and hygroscopic properties were studied for comparing the quality attributes of softgel. Short-term stability against heat and moisture was also investigated in this study. Vegetable capsule shell showed better mechanical strength, physical stability and disintegration time for temperature and humidity than those of conventional gelatin capsule shell with four different filling materials used frequently as soft capsule form. Conclusively, this vegetable capsule shell polymer system can replace easily gelatin-shell systems and additionally allows encapsulation of lipid fills at high temperatures that are semisolid or solid-like at room temperature.