SPI Supplies Brand® Empty Gelatin Capsules
We have the world's largest selection of empty gelatin capsule sizes, all quickly dissolvable
Introduction:
Gelatin capsules are universally known for their applications in the pharmaceutical industry.
What is not so generally known is that there are wide-ranging applications for empty gelatin
capsules in numerous fields well outside of the pharmaceutical industry. Indeed we have
observed that there is a clear dichotomy of the applications, the smaller gelatin capsules
being used in microscopy and histology and the larger "jumbo" sizes being used more for packaging.
But whether you are going to be using the SPI Supplies brand of empty gelatin capsules for
histology and microscopy or the jumbo sizes for creative and low cost packaging solutions
for delicate parts, the capsules are all produced to pharmaceutical industry standards.
But since SPI Supplies is not registered with the US Food and Drug Administration, we can
offer our capsules only for applications that are other than pharmaceutical or food related.
Dissolution characteristics of the gelatin capsules:
The single word "dissolution" and just what it means is subject to interpretation (and misinterpretation).
We state that "The gelatin capsules featured by SPI are known for their rapid dissolution properties,
90 seconds in water at 37° C/98.6° F." When we have done testing, in water, at room temperature,
we will agree that the capsules do not "disappear. But they certainly do soften, disintegrate and generally go away.
This description applies for all sizes.
In pharmaceutical applications, the function of a gelatin capsule is to hold the
contents until they can be released in a digestive system. The capsules sold by SPI
Supplies perform in exactly this way and are in fact "pharmaceutical quality" or
"pharmaceutical grade." But for other applications, we literally don't know how
to extrapolate from our laboratory observations and one just has to try the product
and see if they indeed to or do not work. We got into the business of offering
gelatin capsules originally because our core business at that time was to supply
the electron microscopy market with consumable supplies and that meant that the
purpose of the capsules was to hold small items, for example, grids for transmission
electron microscopy. They do this very well, and we don't want something that dissolves
too quickly in this application. Many people use them as embedding molds for TEM, and again,
we don't want them to be dissolving before the embedding medium has polymerized.
If you do the dissolution test yourself, and if you just immerse the capsule in water
(after first opening it so that it doesn't just float) it retains its shape for quite
a while, but if you touch it, it has lost its strength and its ability to contain anything.
Your can be sure this is normal behavior and this does not in any way represent a capsule
that is not performing up to our description. We make this point because form time to time,
researchers try to do their own testing, and come to the false conclusion that something is
"not right" with the capsules supplied by SPI Supplies.
Production of the capsules:
The ultimate properties of the final gelatin capsules will depend on the nature of the
source of the gelatin. For many years, dry bones from dead cows in India represented
the prime source for the worlds best gelatin capsule quality gelatin. But as the
quantity of the dried bones available for pharmaceutical industry use has started to
decline, other sources for the gelatin have been developed. For example, ground pigs
feet has been the source for some amount of the world's gelatin capsule gelatin. But
until recently, and the development of technology by which one can modify this second
source to the point that it is very very similar to the gelatin from dried bones has
not be generally known as being available.
The other point of possible interest to our viewers is that it is far easier to make
the smaller capsules than it is the larger ones. And that explains why SPI Supplies
is nearly a unique source for Jumbo™ gelatin capsules. But whatever your own particular
application, you can be sure that if you are getting it from SPI Supplies it will
definitely live up to or exceed your expectations.
Available empty gelatin capsule products:
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Sunday July 20, 2008
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