Information for health care professionals
What does a tablet contain?
In addition to the active ingredient(s) tablets normally contain a number of additional inactive ingredients known as excipients. These excipients are used by manufacturers to ensure that tablets are convenient to use and of a high quality.
A Tablet Contains:
There are many different types of coating that tablets and capsules can have.
TABLET EXCIPIENTS
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Filler (or diluent): |
Fillers are incorporated into the formulation to increase the bulk volume of the powdered drug making up the tablet. This increases the size of the tablet in order that it is of a size suitable for handling. Fillers are only necessary if the dose of drug per tablet is low and the tablet would otherwise be too small. |
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Disintegrant: |
Disintegrants encourage the tablet to break down into small fragments, ideally individual drug particles, when it is ingested. This promotes the rapid dissolution and absorption of the drug, enabling it to exert its therapeutic action more quickly. |
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Binder: |
A binder is added to a drug-filler mixture to ensure that granules and tablets can be formed with the required mechanical strength. They hold a tablet together after it has been compressed, preventing it from breaking down into its component powders during packaging, shipping and routine handling. |
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Glidant: |
The role of the glidant is to improve the flowability of the powder making up the tablet during production. |
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Lubricant: |
Lubricants ensure that the tableting powder does not adhere to the equipment used to press the tablet during manufacture. They improve the flow of the powder mixes through the presses and minimize friction and breakage as the finished tablets are ejected from the equipment. |
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Antiadherent: |
The function of an antiadherent is similar to that of the glidant, reducing adhesion between the powder making up the tablet and the machine that is used to punch out the shape of the tablet during manufacture. |
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Flavour: |
Flavouring agents are incorporated into tablets to give them a more pleasant taste or to mask an unpleasant one. |
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Colourant: |
Colours are added to tablets to aid identification and patient compliance. |
Other links in this section:
- Tablet and capsule coatings and
how they affect the action of the medicine.
- How tablets work.
- Clinical and legal reasons why tablet crushing and capsule opening should be avoided.
- Protocol providing guidance on medication
administration for patients with swallowing difficulties (dysphagia),
including those with percutaneous endoscopic gastronomy (PEG) and percutaneous
endoscopic jejunostomy (PEJ) tubes in situ.
- Comprehensive list of liquid and non-oral alternatives to tablet or capsule formulations.
