What is Softgel and Its Benefit?

What is Softgel and Its Benefit?

Softgel
Softgel capsules are a packaging method of capsules, which are commonly used in pharmaceutical and nutraceutical industries. Such a kind of softgel is made by processing liquid medicine or liquid-solid medicine and sealing it in a sealed shape. The soft substance is made of gelatin, glycerin, or other suitable pharmaceutical excipients, forming a combination.

Definition

Softgel refers to encapsulate a certain amount of liquid medicine, or dissolving or dispersing solid medicine in suitable excipients to make a solution, suspension, emulsion, or semi-solid, and seal it in a spherical or oval softgel.

Characteristics

i. Liquid oily filling material can be directly enclosed in softgel, without the need to use additives such as adsorption and inclusion, and the filling oil content is as high as 60%-85% (weight). The softgel shell generally is under 50%.
II. Softgel can be completely hermetically sealed. The softgel shell has high strength and protects the inside material from light. The filling inside stays stable for a long time. According to the test, the gelatin ribbon has more than 30 times the oxygen shielding performance of polyethylene. It can prevent oxidation and moisture better than other dosages.
iii. After taking, the ingredients are released quickly, the utilization rate in the body is high, and the absorption rate is high.
iv. The filling material has good uniformity and the deviation is very low.
v. Softgel can cover some peculiar smell and odor, especially for some nutraceutical and pharmaceutical applications.
vi. There are more choices for softgel in regard to the taste, color, fragrance, transparency. Compared with another round dosage, softgel has a good gloss appearance and is eye-catching.
vii. The airtight softgel is a kind of clean container, which cannot be mixed with foreign matter.
viii. Softgel capsules should meet the following requirements during production and storage: small-dose drugs should be diluted with a suitable diluent first and mixed uniformly. Softgel should have a clean appearance, no sticking, deformation, or cracking, and no odor.

Appropriate drugs

Softgel capsules are most suitable for oil material and low melting point drugs. Oil softgel such as vitamin E is liquid at room temperature. In the past, oil medicine preparations were often processed by adsorption and solidification techniques during preparation. The addition of adsorbents and other auxiliary materials increased the volume. Or was in preparation, using heating and drying, the drug is easily exuded from the adsorbent and other auxiliary materials, causing the loss of the main ingredients and affecting the curative effect. Nowadays, with gelatin softgel capsules, we can solve such problems in the past. Such cases like vitex oil softgel and indomethacin softgel.

Light sensitive ingredients or drugs unstable under heat and high humidity, or easily oxidized are better made into soft capsules. In order to prevent the drug from being decomposed by light, a light-shielding material such as titanium dioxide or iron oxide can be added to the gelatin solution to achieve good light stability. The softgel capsule is mainly composed of glycerin and gelatin. The gelatin shell is thick and there is no air permeability. Therefore, the softgel is an excellent dosage to prevent the oxidation of the medicine. Such as active vitamin D3 capsules and calcium capsules.

Softgel Machines to manufacturing softgel capsules.