Abstract

The aim of this study was to design, formulate and evaluate the physicochemical properties of acetaminophen, ibuprofen and caffeine as effervescent tablets, since, they can overcome the problems with drug swallowing for the pediatric, elderly and bed-ridden patients. Effervescent tablets were prepared in a dosage of 325 mg acetaminophen, 200 mg ibuprofen and 40 mg caffeine by fusion and direct compression methods. Pre-compression characteristics of the mixed powders and granules, such as angle of repose, compressibility index, mean particle size and Hausner's ratio were evaluated. Then, they were evaluated for post-compression properties including weight variation, hardness, friability, carbon dioxide content, effervescence time, pH, content uniformity, assay and water content. Panel taste was performed using 30 volunteers. After performing the required procedures, citric acid and sodium bicarbonate were selected as effervescent materials. It was resulted that the fusion method was exhibited more flowability than direct compression and the G5 formulation was selected as the optimized formulation. It is significant that fusion method resulted in better tablets compared to direct compression method.

Authors and Affiliations