TESTING TABLET FRIABILITY, THICKNESS AND HARDNESS

• FRIABILATOR: Use a drum, with an internal diameter between 283 and291 mm and a depth between 36 and 40 mm, of transparent synthetic polymer with polished internal surfaces, and subject to minimum static build-up (see figure for a typical apparatus).
• One side of the drum is removable.
• The tablets are tumbled at each turn of the drum by a curved projection with an inside radius between 75.5 and 85.5 mm that extends from the middle of the drum to the outer wall.
• The outer diameter of the central ring is between 24.5 and 25.5 mm.
• The drum is attached to the horizontal axis of a device that rotates at 25± 1 rpm.
• The test procedure is generally applicable to most compressed tablets.
• Measurement of tablet friability supplements other physical strength measurements, such as tablet breaking force.
• The tablets must be hard enough to withstand mechanical stress during packaging, shipment, and handling by the consumer.
• several hand operated tablet hardness testers that might be useful. Examples of devices are the Strong Cobb, Pfizer, and Stokes hardness testers. The principle of measurement involves subjecting the tablet to an increasing load until the tablet breaks of fractures.
• For tablets with a unit weight equal to or less than 650 mg, take a sample of whole tablets corresponding as near as possible to 6.5 g. For tablets with a unit weight of more than 650 mg, take a sample of 10 whole tablets.
• The tablets should be carefully dedusted prior to testing
• Accurately weigh the tablet sample, and place the tablets in the drum.
• Rotate the drum 100 times (100 pm or 25 pm for 4 minutes)
• Generally, the test is run once. If obviously cracked, cleaved, or broken tablets are present in the tablet sample after tumbling, the sample fails the test.
• If the results are difficult to interpret or if the weight loss is greater than the targeted value, the test should be repeated twice and the mean of the three tests determined.
• A maximum mean weight loss from the three samples of not more than 1.0% is considered acceptable for most products.
• Drums with dual scooping projections, or an apparatus with more than one drum, for the running of multiple samples at one time, are also permitted.
• small intestine - is where most chemical digestion takes place.
• Most of the digestive enzymes in the small intestine are secreted by the pancreas and enter the small intestine via the pancreatic duct.
• three pancreatic enzymes

  • Pancreatic proteases
  • Pancreatic amylase
  • Pancreatic lipase
• Pancreatic proteases (such as trypsin and chymotrypsin) - digest proteins.
• Pancreatic amylase - which helps to digest sugars (carbohydrates)
• Pancreatic lipase - which Chemical Digestion in the Small Intestine helps to digest fat.
• These enzymes enter the small intestine in response to the hormone cholecystokinin, which is produced in response to the presence of nutrients.
• The hormone secretin also causes bicarbonate to be released into the small intestine from the pancreas to neutralize the potentially harmful acid coming from the stomach.