A comprehensive understanding of disintegrants and disintegration quantification techniques: From the perspective of tablet microstructure

Disintegration is the process where tablets break down into small particles in a liquid medium. Sufficient disintegration of tablets is conducive to the rapid dissolution of drugs and improve bioavailability, thus it is essential to have a full understanding of the disintegration phenomenon of tablets. The addition of disintegrants plays an indispensable role in initiating the disintegration process of tablets. Developing and applying disintegrants with superior performance is the direction that people are committed to exploring. Seeking new disintegrants from the natural field is another major effort. Additionally, the research and application of Chinese medicine tablets have attracted extensive interest due to the safety and efficacy of natural Chinese herbal medicine. However, the problem of delayed disintegration of Chinese medicine tablets poses a challenge in clinical application. The standard disintegration test (SDT) is clearly defined in Pharmacopoeia with limited information on the disintegration process. Therefore, it seems to be worthy and urgent to quantify the disintegration phenomenon and try to reveal the underlying mechanism and tablet microstructure of the disintegration based on the use of advanced technologies and software methods. In this review, we focused specifically on the recent advances in tablet disintegration, including the development of disintegrants, an overview based on the disintegration of Chinese medicine tablets, and the technical methods for quantifying disintegration, hence providing a reference for further understanding of the disintegration phenomenon.