Excipient classification and types

Excipients are used in pharmaceutical industries for the manufacturing of different dosage forms. Excipients are inert materials and have no pharmacological effect but are very important to get the desired effects of active pharmaceutical ingredients.

The active pharmaceutical ingredient alone can do nothing in the dosage form without excipients.

Word Excipient is derived from the Latin word Excipere, which means “To except” and simply means other than API, all other ingredients in a dosage form are excipients.

Some excipients have single role & some give multi roles like starch is used as a binder, disintegrant and also as diluent.
The role of excipients is defined by the concentration and the stage at which excipients are used.

Properties of Excipients
Excipients should have the following properties

• No Pharmacological effect.
• Cost-effective.
• Meet regulatory requirements.
• Chemically and physiologically stable.
• Commercially available.

Role of Excipients

Some important roles performed by the excipients are

• Provide assistance in the manufacturing of drug delivery system.
• Enhance product stability e.g antimicrobial preservatives.
• Help in Product identification e.g colourants.
• Protect the dosage form from oxidation.
• Improve the bioavailability of the drug.
• Sweeteners modify the taste of medicine.

Classification of Excipients

• Excipients are classified depending upon the following According to the Route of administration 
• According to Origin 
• According to function 

According to Route of Administration

According to the route of administration, the excipient classification system is given as,

• Excipients for OSD
• Excipients for Parenteral Products
• Excipients for Topical Products.

According to Origin

As per origin, the excipients are classified as

Marine Origin

• Agar
• chitosan

Animal Origin

• Lactose(Dairy industry byproduct)
• Gelatin(Bones and collagen of animals)
• Bee wax
• Stearic acid
• Shellac
• Lanolin

Organic Chemicals

• Sugars
• Starch
• Cellulose

Inorganic Chemicals

• Calcium carbonate

Synthetic

• PVP

Semisynthetic

• HPC
• HPMC

According to Function

• Diluents
• Disintegrants
• Binders
• Glidents
• Lubricants
• Colourants
• Sweeteners
• Preservatives
• Suspending Agents
• Flavouring Agents
• Film former etc

Also Read

1. PVP or Kollidone
2. Read Details About Xylitol
3. Role Of Kollidone Cl