Pharmaceutical excipientsThere are many types of pharmaceutical excipients, and their main functions include: filling, binding, disintegrating, and lubricating. Sometimes, they also play a role in coloring, flavoring, and aesthetics.

1. Pharmaceutical excipients: Starch

Corn starch is commonly used. It is very stable, does not react with most drugs, is inexpensive, has low hygroscopicity, and has a good appearance. In actual production, it is often mixed with easily compressible sugars and dextrin because starch has poor compressibility. If used alone, the tablets will be too loose.

2.Pharmaceutical excipients: Powdered sugar

Powdered sugar is a white powder made by low-temperature drying and pulverizing crystalline sucrose. Its advantages include strong binding force, which can be used to increase the hardness of tablets and make the surface of tablets smooth and beautiful. Its disadvantage is that it is highly hygroscopic. Long-term storage will make the tablets too hard, making disintegration or dissolution difficult. Except for soluble tablets, it is generally not used alone and is often used in combination with dextrin and starch.

3.Pharmaceutical excipients: Dextrin

Dextrin is the general term for the intermediate products of starch hydrolysis. Its chemical formula is (C6H10O5)n•XH2O, and its water-soluble content is about 80%. It dissolves slowly in cold water and more easily in hot water. It is insoluble in ethanol. It is also customarily called high paste (high viscosity dextrin), which has strong binding properties. Improper use may cause spots or watermarks on the tablets or cause slow disintegration or dissolution of tablets; similarly, if it is not sufficiently pulverized and extracted during content determination, it will affect the accuracy and reproducibility of the determination results. Therefore, dextrin is rarely used alone in large quantities as a filler, and it is often used in combination with powdered sugar and starch.

4.Pharmaceutical excipients: Lactose

Lactose is an excellent tablet filler, extracted from whey. It is widely used abroad, but due to its high price, it is not widely used domestically. Crystalline lactose containing one molecule of water (i.e., α-hydrate lactose) is commonly used. It is non-hygroscopic, has good compressibility, is stable, does not react chemically with most drugs, and produces smooth and beautiful tablets. Lactose obtained by spray drying is non-crystalline lactose, which has good fluidity and compressibility and can be used directly for powder direct compression.