Investigating a Calcium Alginate-Xylitol Coating Methodology for Controlled Release Profiles of Multivitamin Tablet as a Model Drug

The drug delivery system promotes the release of the active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) to attain the desired therapeutic effect at the time most needed. Alginate is a natural polymer that is frequently employed in drug delivery systems. Calcium alginate can simply coat as a film type on the surface of a tablet, which might be created to be dissolved more quickly and predictably manners in the gastric fluid to deliver as needed in a patient-friendly system. In this study, the sodium alginate solution was reacted with a predetermined calcium compound and xylitol combination, while the multivitamin tablets’ surface was coated with calcium suppliers such as calcium chloride. Then, the coated tablets were subjected to a dissolution test in a simulated gastric fluid. Our study results showed that the sphere formation was excellent in terms of strength and size in 1.0% sodium alginate with 4% calcium chloride. Average sphere sizes were 0.5 ~ 2.0 mm. Their break force was 3.5 N, And the dissolution was the fastest in the coated tablets with 1% sodium alginate and calcium chloride. The dissolution rate was changed proportionally with calcium concentration. A high feasibility of dissolution rate was positively found. When a high concentration of xylitol was mixed with 4% calcium chloride, the dissolution rate was proportional to the concentration of xylitol. In conclusion, the study demonstrated that the dissolution rate of tablets with API might be controllable with the calcium alginate film coating with xylitol.