JPH0774150B2 - Soft capsule for liver oil - Google Patents

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a soft capsule filled with liver oil.

[Conventional technology]

BACKGROUND ART Liver oil is filled into a soft capsule (also referred to as “soft capsule”) to form a capsule in order to make liver oil easier to take and to ensure absorption in a target digestive organ. Such soft capsules are required to have properties such as strength sufficient to maintain the shape, disintegration property, and disintegration property not decreasing with time.

The deterioration of the disintegration property of the capsule is because the gelatin constituting the capsule becomes insoluble over time. In addition, the disintegration property of the capsule is remarkably reduced when the content is fish liver oil or the like. It is said that gelatin is insolubilized by reacting with liver oil.

A soft capsule capable of preventing such gelatin insolubilization is disclosed in JP-A-58-62120. This soft capsule is 0.5-1 for gelatin.
It is obtained by adding 0% by weight of the polypeptide. It is considered that the polypeptide reacts with the content before gelatin to suppress the reaction with gelatin and prevent its insolubilization.

In addition, Japanese Patent Publication No. 56-31981 discloses a soft capsule which is superior in disintegration to conventional soft capsules. This soft capsule has a jelly strength of 60.
A film is formed from gelatin having a bloom of ~ 120 bloom and a viscosity of 22-35 mP. By limiting the gelatin having the above physical properties, the disintegration property of the soft capsule is improved. It is considered that this is because gelatin having the above physical properties contains a relatively large amount of polypeptide.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

However, in the soft capsule described in the above-mentioned publication, when the content is a highly reactive liver oil, the amount of the polypeptide consumed by the reaction increases, and the insolubilization prevention becomes insufficient in the above range. I knew it was. In addition, if the amount of the polypeptide added to gelatin is increased in an attempt to solve this problem, the problem that the strength of the capsule is lowered occurs.

In addition, the soft capsule described in the above-mentioned publication also has a problem that the insolubility of gelatin may be insufficiently prevented if the content is highly reactive liver oil.

In view of the above, it is an object of the present invention to provide a soft capsule that prevents insolubilization of gelatin.

[Means for solving problems]

The soft capsule for liver oil of the present invention is obtained by a method including a step of drying an aqueous solution containing gelatin having a jelly strength of 200 bloom or more and a viscosity of 35 mP or less and a plasticizer and having a pH of 5 or less to a water content of 9% by weight or less.

The present invention will be described in detail below.

The soft capsule according to the present invention has a pH of 5 or less and a water content of 9% by weight or less. If the pH of the soft capsule is higher than 5 or the water content is higher than 9% by weight, the effect of preventing gelatin insolubilization becomes small.

The method of adjusting the pH of the soft capsules to 5 or less is not particularly limited, but for example, by adding an inorganic acid and / or an organic acid, or by gelatin having a low pH (for example,
It can be carried out by using pH 5.0 or less). Examples of the inorganic acid include hydrochloric acid and sulfuric acid, and examples of the organic acid include phosphoric acid. The method for making the soft capsules have a water content of 9% by weight or less is not particularly limited, but it can be carried out, for example, by prolonging the drying time during the production of the soft capsules or by raising the drying temperature. In addition, the timing of adjusting the pH is adjusted according to the preparation of the soft capsule adjusting solution, or by using gelatin having such a pH. Further, the method of keeping the water content of the soft capsules at 9% by weight or less is not particularly limited, but the soft capsules can be stored, for example, in a closed container.

The soft capsule according to the present invention contains at least gelatin and a plasticizer. In addition to gelatin and a plasticizer, the soft capsule according to the present invention may contain, for example, one or more kinds of preservatives, thickeners, coloring agents and the like, if necessary. Examples of the plasticizer include glycerin and sorbitol, which may be used alone or 2
More than one species may be used together. Examples of the thickener include gum arabic and alginic acid,
Each of them may be used alone or in combination of two or more. Examples of the colorant include food dyes, etc., which may be used alone or in combination of two or more kinds.

If the pH of the soft capsule is limited to the above range,
Due to the pH dependence of gelatin, its jelly strength decreases,
In addition, the deterioration of gelatin physical properties due to heat during dissolution and defoaming in capsule production may become large. That is, when the jelly strength of gelatin is less than 200 bloom, it may be difficult to prevent the strength decrease when the pH of the soft capsule is set to 5 or less. Further, when the viscosity of gelatin exceeds 35 mP, bubble escape during the production of soft capsules is delayed, and heat deterioration of gelatin at low pH is introduced, and the strength of the soft capsules tends to be too low.

In the present invention, gelatin having a jelly strength of 200 bloom or more and a viscosity of 35 mP or less is used. This allows
The defoaming time when making capsules is short, and heat deterioration at low pH can be prevented. Therefore, insolubilization of gelatin can be prevented, and further, strength deterioration of the capsule can be prevented. Here, the jelly strength and viscosity of gelatin are measured according to JIS-K-6503 (1977).

The soft capsule according to the present invention is different from the conventional one in that the pH and the water content are low, but the method and apparatus for manufacturing the capsule can use the conventionally used one as it is. Therefore, it is not necessary to make new capital investment in order to manufacture the soft capsule according to the present invention. For example, an aqueous solution containing gelatin and optionally other components is prepared, and this aqueous solution is dried according to a conventional method to form a sheet. Using this sheet, capsules can be produced by a continuous method such as filling the contents with a rotary filling machine. Further, using the above-mentioned sheet, a capsule can be manufactured by a flat plate method. The capsules may be produced by a method such as the Glovex method in which the capsule is produced and the contents are filled without forming the sheet in advance. Jelly strength 200 bloom or more and viscosity 35 mP
There is no particular limitation on the method for producing the soft capsule for liver oil of the present invention, except that the following step of drying an aqueous solution containing gelatin and a plasticizer at a pH of 5 or less to a water content of 9% by weight or less is included.

What is charged in the soft capsule according to the present invention is
Liver oil.

[Work]

The soft capsule for liver oil of the present invention is obtained by a method including a step of drying an aqueous solution containing gelatin having a jelly strength of 200 bloom or more and a viscosity of 35 mP or less and a plasticizer of pH 5 or less to a water content of 9% by weight or less. , The reactivity of gelatin that constitutes the soft capsule is lowered. Therefore, it is possible to prevent economical degradation of disintegration and prevent gelatin insolubilization due to highly reactive liver oil for a long period of time.

〔Example〕

Examples of the present invention will be described below in comparison with a conventional example and a comparative example outside the numerical range of the present invention. However, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments.

(Examples and Comparative Examples 1 and 2) With the respective formulations shown in Table 1, the components were heated and dissolved, and the respective components were well mixed to prepare a soft capsule preparation liquid. Each prepared solution was cooled in the form of a sheet and dried at a low temperature to prepare a soft capsule sheet. The pH of each sheet was measured and is shown in Table 1. The gelatin used had a jelly strength of 250 Bloom and a viscosity of 31 mP.

The water content of each sheet was adjusted to the value shown in Table 1 by adjusting the drying time during sheet production.

The disintegration property of each sheet was examined. The disintegration property of each sheet was measured at 37 ° C. using a disintegration tester immediately after production, after storage at 40 ° C. for 6 months, and after immersion in fish liver oil and storage at 20 ° C. for 1 month. The dissolution time in the synthetic gastric juice was measured, and the dissolution time per 0.2 g of each sheet is shown in Table 1.

As can be seen from Table 1, the sheets of Examples show less deterioration in disintegration with time as compared with the sheets of Comparative Examples 1 and 2. Moreover, the sheets of the examples were not insolubilized even after being soaked in liver oil for 1 month, but the sheets of Comparative Examples 1 and 2 were
It became insoluble when immersed for a month.

〔The invention's effect〕

The soft capsule for liver oil according to the present invention has a jelly strength
Since it was obtained by a method including a step of drying an aqueous solution having a pH of 5 or less containing gelatin and a plasticizer having a viscosity of 200 bloom or more and a viscosity of 35 mP or less to a water content of 9% by weight or less, even if liver oil is added, Decrease in disintegration is small.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A jelly strength of 200 bloom or more and a viscosity of 35 mP
A soft capsule for liver oil obtained by a method including a step of drying an aqueous solution having a pH of 5 or less containing the following gelatin and a plasticizer to a water content of 9% by weight or less.