Roquette launches new excipient to boost stability of moisture-sensitive ingredients like probiotics

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Roquette (La Madeleine, France) debuted a brand new excipient at this week’s Vitafoods Europe trade show in Geneva, Switzerland. Called Pearlitol ProTec, the excipient is designed to protect moisture-sensitive active ingredients like probiotics. This can also expand opportunities for formulating with these sensitive ingredients in new consumer-friendly dosage formats.

Pearlitol ProTec is described as a “plant-based, co-processed blend of mannitol and maize starch.” According to a Roquette press release, “With a measured water activity (Aw) value of <0.2, moisture content below 1%, and good compactability performance, it helps preserve the integrity of moisture-sensitive actives throughout the manufacturing process—and beyond.” This can also increase the shelf life of these products.

Carin Siow, PhD, senior pharmaceutical application scientist at Roquette, stated in a press release, “When we look at dosage formats [for probiotics], hard-shell capsules still dominate, but this picture is beginning to shift. Consumers are searching for convenient new supplement formats that fit easily into their daily routines. Chewable tablets, stick packs, and powder sachets are examples of these lifestyle-friendly formats, and we expect such dosage forms to gain market share in years to come.”

Siow continued, “Probiotics, like other moisture-sensitive active ingredients, present stability issues which limit their viability for certain dosage formats. In directly compressed tablets, for instance, flowability and compactability are key considerations—which means manufacturers need a flowable excipient that can ensure homogeneity and impart the desired tablet strength. Most of the currently available tableting solutions, however, require an additional drying process to reach the <0.2 low water activity (Aw) needed to stabilize moisture-sensitive actives.”