Co-crystallization of zinc sulfate with sucrose: a promissory strategy to render solid dosage forms more palatable

ALEX LÓPEZ-CÓRDOBA ; LOREANA GALLO; VERÓNICA BUCALÁ; MIRIAM MARTINO ; ALBA NAVARRO

JOURNAL OF FOOD ENGINEERING

ELSEVIER SCI LTD

Lugar: Amsterdam; Año: 2016

0260-8774

Zinc deficiency is a worldwide nutritional problem related with high child mortality rate. The objective of this work was to develop solid dosage forms (powders and tablets) containing zinc to supply the requirements of risk populations. Powders containing zinc (17 mg/g powder) were obtained through co-crystallization in sucrose matrix with high encapsulation efficiency (98%). The products showed values of water activity (0.6) and moisture content (2.0 %) characteristics of good stability. Zinc co-crystallized products showed similar infrared spectrum than sucrose indicating that no interactions had been taken place between the active compound and the matrix. The products were also analyzed by differential scanning calorimetry and no degradations peaks were found below 100ºC, showing a high thermal stability. Besides, co-crystallized products with zinc showed excellent compactibility properties leading to compacts with suitable hardness at low compression force (4.7 kN). Tablets were obtained using blends of co-crystallized products with zinc (80% w/w), native corn starch (20 % w/w) and magnesium stearate (1g/100 g of blend). The tablets showed optimal values of hardness (4.8 kg f) and low disintegration times (