(1). Advantages of water content
The water content of the gelatin capsule shell is 12.5%-17.5%, while the water content of the HPMC capsule is only 5%-7%, and some are less than 3%, which is nearly 60% lower than that of the capsule.
1. The stability of the capsule shell itself
When the water content is lower than 10%, the gelatin capsule shell will become brittle, with a risk of more than 10% brittleness; when the water content continues to decrease to 5%, 100% brittleness will occur; while the water content of the HPMC capsule shell Even if it is less than 1%, chipping will not occur.
Under high humidity conditions, the gelatin capsule shell will become soft and sticky, resulting in adhesion to each other or to the packaging material; while HPMC capsules exchange moisture with the environment during long-term storage, which will increase the water content of the capsules in the specified packaging , but will not exceed 9% within 5 years.
2. The impact on filling drugs
The water content of the gelatin capsule shell is higher than that of the HPMC capsule shell. When filling the water-absorbing drug, the water will migrate to the drug, causing the capsule shell to become brittle and disintegrate slowly, while the HPMC capsule shell does not have this situation. Therefore, HPMC capsules should be selected for moisture-sensitive and highly water-absorbing contents, such as dry powder for inhalation and Chinese medicine extracts.
(2) Advantages of natural concept
The main component of the gelatin capsule shell is protein, which is easy to breed bacteria. It needs to add preservatives and be sterilized with ethylene oxide before packaging; while the main component of the HPMC capsule shell is hypromellose, which is not easy to grow microorganisms, so the production It does not add any preservatives and does not require sterilization, which fundamentally solves the problem of chlorohydrin residues.
(3) Advantages of chemical structure
The main component of gelatin capsules is gelatin (protein), which undergoes cross-linking reactions when encountering amino acids, aldehyde drugs, reducing sugar-based compounds, and vitamins. The main component of the HPMC capsule shell, HPMC, is a polymer obtained by modifying natural polymer cellulose, which is chemically inert and has no interaction with the filler.
(4) Security
Plant-derived HPMC capsules will not be infected with animal-derived diseases, and heavy metal "chromium" will not exceed the standard.
1. Gelatin capsule shell ~ "poison capsule" incident
The gelatin used in gelatin capsules is edible gelatin, which is mainly derived from collagen in animal skin, tendons, and bones. In 2012, some enterprises used quicklime to decolorize, bleach and clean leather waste, boil it into industrial gelatin, sell it to pharmaceutical capsule manufacturers, and finally flowed to pharmaceutical companies. Because the heavy metal chromium contained in industrial gelatin seriously exceeded the standard, it eventually led to " Poison capsule” event.
2. Infection risk of gelatin capsule shell
Gelatin capsule shells are mainly made from the skin and bones of pigs, cattle, and sheep. Therefore, as animal-derived gelatin capsules, there is a risk of spreading mad cow disease (BSE) and hoof-foot disease.
(5) Applicable to a wide range of people
People with religious beliefs and vegetarians may have resistance to animal-derived gelatin capsule shells, but plant-derived HPMC capsule shells do not have this phenomenon and are suitable for all kinds of people.
