(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 the water content 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, and there is a risk of more than 10% brittleness; when the water content is continuously reduced to 5%, 100% brittleness will occur; while the water content of HPMC capsule shells Even if it is less than 1%, no chipping will occur.
Under high humidity conditions, the shell of gelatin capsules 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 not more than 9% within 5 years.
2. The effect of filling drugs
The water content of the gelatin capsule shell is higher than that of the HPMC capsule shell. When filling with easily water-absorbing drugs, the water will migrate to the drug, resulting in the capsule shell becoming brittle and disintegrating slowly, while the HPMC capsule shell does not have this situation. Therefore, for the contents that are sensitive to moisture and highly absorbent, HPMC capsules should be selected, such as dry powder for inhalation and traditional Chinese medicine extracts.
(2) Advantages of natural concept
The main component of the gelatin capsule shell is protein, which is easy to breed bacteria, so it is necessary to add preservatives, and sterilize 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 No preservatives are added, and no sterilization is required, which fundamentally solves the problem of chlorohydrin residues.
(3) Advantages of chemical structure
The main component of gelatin capsules is gelatin (protein), which undergoes a cross-linking reaction when encountering amino acids, aldehydes, reducing sugar-based compounds and vitamins. The main component of HPMC capsule shell, HPMC, is a polymer obtained by modifying natural macromolecular cellulose, which is chemically inert and has no interaction with fillers.
(4) Security
Plant-derived HPMC capsules will not be infected with animal-derived diseases, nor will the heavy metal "chromium" 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 skins, tendons and bones. In 2012, some enterprises used quicklime to decolorize, bleach and wash leather waste, boil it into industrial gelatin, sell it to pharmaceutical capsule manufacturers, and eventually flow to pharmaceutical companies. Poison Capsule incident.
2. Infection risk of gelatin capsule shell
The shells of gelatin capsules 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 swine hoof disease.
(5) Applicable to a wide range of people
Those with religious beliefs and vegetarians will have resistance to animal-derived gelatin capsule shells, while plant-derived HPMC capsule shells do not have this phenomenon and are suitable for all kinds of people.
five. Advantages of gelatin capsule shells
1. The unit price is cheap
Ordinary gelatin capsule shells are 3 to 10 cents cheaper per capsule than HPMC capsule shells, so the mass production utilization rate of gelatin capsules is higher.
2. The cap body separation and breakage rate is low
During cap separation, the gelatin capsule shells just collapsed, but the HPMC capsule shells were broken.
