Evaluation of compressibility of pentaestergum coated aspirin microcapsules.

We have earlier reported the usefulness of the pentaerythritol rosin ester (pentaestergum) as a coating material, its dissolution kinetics and in vivo release studies in dogs. The present communication deals with the compressibility of the pentaestergum-coated aspirin microcapsules. The microcapsules were prepared by the pan-coating method described earlier. These were compressed into the tablets using a single punch machine. The tablets were evaluated for hardness, friability loss, disintegration time and dissolution studies. The results showed that there were significant differences in the release characteristics from the microcapsules and the compressed tablets. The effect of 5 per cent starch as a disintegrating agent in the tablet formulation was also studied. The results showed that the tablets can be a suitable dosage form for pentaestergum-coated microcapsules to give a delayed drug release.