Multivitamin Tablet Stability via Anhydrous Dicalcium Phosphate
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Solution Overview
Problem
Multivitamin and mineral supplements experience degradation and discoloration due to oxidation reactions, particularly caused by moisture, leading to reduced potency and unappealing darkening or spotting, which conventional desiccants and coatings fail to adequately address.
Innovation Solution
A pharmaceutical composition comprising at least one polyvalent metal and one oxidizable vitamin, combined with anhydrous dicalcium phosphate to minimize mobile bound water, thereby reducing oxidation-induced spotting and darkening, and maintaining the stability and disintegration time of multivitamin and mineral supplements.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If desiccants are employed to remove moisture, then stability against oxidation is improved, but desiccants can be physically removed by consumers negating the beneficial effect
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the harmful moisture from the system by incorporating water-binding materials directly into the tablet matrix, eliminating the need for separate desiccant packets that can be removed by consumers. The water-binding capacity is built into the excipients themselves.
Solution Approach 2:
Water-binding materials serve as intermediaries that bind moisture within the tablet structure, preventing direct contact between water and oxidizable components. This internal moisture management system replaces external desiccants.
2Reliability
If desiccants are used to control moisture, then oxidation degradation is reduced, but desiccants add expense to the final product
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses excipients that serve multiple functions: they act as fillers, binders, and water-binding agents simultaneously. This eliminates the need for separate desiccant components, reducing overall product cost while maintaining stability.
Solution Approach 2:
The tablet formulation itself provides moisture control through water-binding excipients integrated into the matrix, making the system self-regulating without requiring additional moisture-control components that would increase cost.
3Ease of operation
If tablet coating is employed to limit exposure to environmental water, then consumer perception of spotting is improved, but coating does not appreciably reduce spotting and darkening problems
Solution Approach 1:
The patent addresses moisture control and oxidation prevention during the tablet formulation stage by incorporating water-binding excipients and antioxidants into the matrix, preventing degradation before it occurs rather than merely masking it with coating.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the chemical environment within the tablet by using water-binding excipients that alter moisture availability, and by selecting antioxidants that change the oxidation resistance parameters of the formulation, addressing the root cause rather than symptoms.
4Reliability
If water-binding materials are incorporated into the tablet matrix, then oxidation reactions are reduced, but tablet formulation complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent selects excipients that perform multiple functions simultaneously: water binding, filling, binding, and disintegration. This multi-functionality approach maintains formulation simplicity while achieving moisture control and oxidation prevention.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent modifies existing excipient selection criteria to prioritize water-binding capacity and oxidation resistance, changing the formulation parameters to inherently more stable materials rather than adding complex moisture-control systems.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The composition significantly improves chemical stability, maintains potency, and prevents spotting and darkening over the commercial shelf life of multivitamin and mineral supplements, ensuring consistent disintegration times and enhanced stability.
Implementation Method 1
The water that contributes to degradation is bound water within the tablet matrix... The present invention provides a composition and method to reduce the degradation in vitamin and mineral supplements associated with darkening and/or spotting... comprising anhydrous dicalcium phosphate
Implementation Method 2
The most common of these reactions are degradation reactions that lead to a reduced potency of the impacted nutrients and may also cause the composition to darken or develop unsightly dark spots. Oxidation reactions are exemplary of a common form of degradation reactions.
Data Source
AI summary
The invention provides a multivitamin and mineral nutritional supplement composition comprising at least one polyvalent metal and at least one oxidizable vitamin with substantially improved resistance to reactions that lead to darkening and /or spotting and reactions that may reduce the potency of oxidizable vitamins. The composition is a multivitamin and mineral composition comprising at least one polyvalent metal and at least one oxidizable vitamin wherein the composition is substantially free of mobile bound water. The invention also includes methods for making such a composition and methods of preventing or reducing oxidation, improving the stability of oxidizable vitamins, and stabilizing the disintegration time of a multi-vitamin and mineral nutritional supplement composition.