Abstract

GRANULATION TECHNIQUES: AN OVERVIEW

Shahidulla S. M.*, Amtul Hafsa and S. A. Azeez

ABSTRACT

Granulation, the process of particle enlargement by agglomeration technique, is one of the most significant unit operations in the production of pharmaceutical dosage form, mostly tablets and capsules. Granulation process transforms fine powders into free flowing, dust free granules that are easy to compress. Granulation process can be divided into two types: wet granulation that utilize a liquid in the process and dry granulation that requires no liquid. The type of process selection requires thorough knowledge of physiochemical properties of a drug, excipients, required flow and release properties. Among currently available technologies, spray drying, roller compaction, high shear mixing, and fluid bed granulation are worth of note. This study focus on the recent progress in the granulation techniques and technologies such as pneumatic dry granulation, reverse wet granulation, steam granulation, moisture-activated dry granulation, thermal adhesion granulation, freeze granulation, and foamed binder or foam granulation.

Keywords: Pneumatic dry granulation; reverse wet granulation; steam granulation; moisture-activated dry granulation.