Micro-encapsulation benefits pharmaceutical industry
The exploitation of micro-encapsulation methods may result in high-performance end-products including pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, food and chemicals. Thereby, advanced process aspects such as controlled release and improved stability may result into significant breakthroughs for the industry. Yet, such methods have not been widely adopted by industries, as there are still important issues to be tackled first. Primarily, micro-encapsulation involves high processing costs and potential environmental and health risks coming from the usage of solvents. Most importantly, there is a lack of awareness about the large variety of micro-encapsulation techniques, their steps and their suitability for particular applications. Answering all this requires a three-year project called MICROCAP extensively investigated micro-encapsulation. One of the key results of this project was the creation of a guidance manual for providing better insight on the procedures used. This manual is the end-result of several cases studies conducted for evaluation and comparison of different methods of micro-encapsulation. Since caffeine is a common substance in both pharmaceutical and food products, it was selected as the common standardised test active in all studies. The manual's information is provided by a simple layout including an introduction, a description of the respective micro-encapsulation technique used and product evaluation results. The well-collated and organised structure is expected to aid all parties interested in micro-encapsulation working methods. The manual is available on line at: http://www.microlithe.com/manual/
