A DETAIL UNDERSTANDING OF ENTERIC COATED TABLET: MANUFACTURING AND EVALUATION

Sushama Pole, Suryaprakash Maurya, Pooja Hasnale, Nitin Rathod, Sharayu Bendale, Dr. Nilesh M. Khutle**

ABSTRACT

The tablet coating is perhaps one of the oldest pharmaceutical process still in existence. Enteric-coated tablets are delayed-release tablets that are intended to resist the gastric fluid and to release their active substance in the intestinal fluid. Coating of tablet with suitable enteric coating material required to disintegrate and release the drug in intestine depending upon the compactness and percent content of additives. Materials used for enteric coatings include CAP, CAT, PVAP and HPMCP, fatty acids, waxes, shellac, plastics and plant fibres. The present review describes enteric coating, their ideal properties, benefits and limitation, various polymers used, their chemical structure, criteria for drug selection and mechanism, methods of manufacturing and evaluation of enteric coated tablets. Most enteric coating works by presenting a surface that is stable at the highly acidic pH found in stomach, but breaks down rapidly at a less acidic pH. For e.g. they will not dissolve in the acidic juices of the stomach (pH -3), but will in the alkaline (pH 7-9) environment present in the small intestine. Enteric coating protect the stomach against drugs which causes gastric irritation also protect the drug which is unstable in gastric fluids.

Keywords: Enteric coated tablet, Ideal properties, Method and Mechanism of enteric-coated tablet, Evaluation of Core and coated tablets.