Diluents compressible sugar

In pharmaceutical applications, sorbitol is used as a tablet diluent in wet granulation or dry compression formulations. It is commonly used in chewable tablets because of its sweet taste, and it is also used as a plasticizer for gelatin in capsule formulations. Sorbitol is utilized in sugar-free liquid preparations and as a stabilizer for drug, vitamin, and antacid suspensions. When it is used in syrups, crystallization around bottle caps is prevented. 

Several solid polyols can be used as direct compression diluents, usually after some physical modification. Most such polyols can be obtained from natural sources, but are usually manufactured by hydrogenation of the parent sugar molecule. Some properties of polyols, together with comparative data for lactose and sucrose, are shown in Table 6. 

Confectioner s sugar is not widely used in pharmaceutical formulations because the poor-flow characteristics prevent its use in direct-compression blends. However, confectioner s sugar is used when a smooth mouth feel or a rapidly dissolving sweetener is required, and when a milled/micronized active ingredient must be blended with a diluent of similar particle size for powders or wet granulations. 

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