The Preparation of Ascorbic Acid Pellets Using the Wet Pelletization Process in Liquid Media

The pellets of ascorbic acid were prepared from wet granulation using modifided spherical agglomeration technique, named as wet pelletization, in liquid media. The wet granules made by conventional method were placed into the baffled cylinderical vessel which was previously filled with water saturated ethylether. The wet granules were composed of ascorbic acid, microcrystalline cellulose and 3% of aqueous PVP K-30 solution as binding agent. To prepare highly spherical pellets with narrow size distribution, the system, at first, was agitated strongly about 1,500 rpm for 10 min with screw type agitator. Then the medium was changed to an anhydrous ethylether and agitated slowly about 900 rpm until pellets are shaped and densified. The shape and size distribution of pellets depend largely on the amounts of binding solution and the proportion of microcrystalline cellulose at fixed agitation speed. This wet pelletization technique was simple, reproducible and might have application for the spheronization of other hydrophilic drugs.