POWDERS

V.VASU NAIK M.Pharm

Dept.of Pharmaceutics

Hindu college of pharmacy

 POWDERS

A pharmaceutical powders is a mixture of finely

divided drug and chemicals in dry form in a solid
dosage form meant for internal and external use and
available in crystalline (or) amorphous form.
Advantages:-
 Powders are one of the oldest dosage form And are
used both internally and externally.
 Powders are more stable than liquid dosage
form.
 The changes of incompatibility are less as compared
to liquid dosage form.
Powders are more easy to transport then the liquid
dosage form.
The onset of action of powdered drug is rapid as
compared to other solid dosage form. E.g. tablets,
capsules.
DISADVANTAGES:-
• Drugs having bitter, nauseous and unpleasant
taste cant be dispensed in powdered form.
• Deliquescent and hydroscopic drugs cant be
dispensed in powder form.
• Drugs which get affected by atmospheric
conditions are not suitable for dispensing in
powder forms.
• Not accurate dosage forms.
 CLASIFICATION OF POWDERS

These are mainly classified in to

1.Bulk powder for internal use
2.Bulk powder for external use.
3.Simple and compound powder for internal use
4.Powder enclosed in cachets and capsules.
5. Compressed powders(tablets).
Bulk powder for internal use:-

• Bulk powder contains several doses of powder.

• They are supplied in wide-mouthed containers that
permits easy removal of a spoonful of powder.
• The non potent substance which are supplied in bulk
are antacids and laxatives etc.
• E.g Rhubarb
Bulk powders external use:-
• Bulk powder meant for external use are non potent
substance.
• These powders are supplied in cardboard glass or
plastic containers.
• The dusting powders are preferably supplied in
perforated or sifter top containers
• The container should bear a label indicating that the
powder is meant for external application.
 The bulk powders which are commonly used
for external applications as follows:-
(a) dusting powders
(b) insufflations
(C) snuffs
(d)dentifrices

Dusting powders:- these are meant for external

application to skin and are generally applied in a
very fine state of sub division to avoid local
irritation .
 Hence, dusting powders should be passed though
sieve no 85
dusting powders are of two types:-
1)medical powders
2)surgical powders

medical dusting powders :- medical dusting powders

are used mainly for superficial skin condition, where
as medical dusting powders must be free from
pathogenic microorganism
surgical dusting powders:- surgical dusting powders
are used in body cavities and also on major wounds as a result
on burns and umbilical cords of infants.

Surgical dusting powders must be sterilized before their use.

Where as surgical dusting powders must be free from
pathogenic microorganism.

The dusting powders are mainly used for their antiseptic

,astringent, absorbent, antiperspirant, and antipruritic
action.
Dusting powders are generally prepared by
mixing two or more ingredients one of which
must be either starch ,talc or kaolin as one of
the ingredients of the formulation. Talc and are
more commonly used because these are
chemically inert. However, since such
ingredients are readily contaminated with
pathogenic bacteria, these must be sterilized by
dry heat method before use .
 The dusting powders are dispensed in sifter-top container or
aerosol containers .
Dusting powders may also be applied with powder puff or
sterilized gauze pad.
dusting powders are generally considered to be nontoxic .

Insufflations:- these are medicated dusting powders

meant for introduction into the body cavities such as nose ,
throat, ears etc; with the help of an apparatus known as
insufflators. It sprays the powder into a stream of finely
divided particles all over the site of application. The following
difficulties of insufflations are
(1)it is difficult to obtain a measured quantity of the drug
as a uniform dose.
(2)It gets blocked when it is slightly wet or the powder used is
wet.
Insufflations should be in finely divided powders so that a
stream of fine particles of medicaments gets applied to the site
application .
Nowadays , the insufflations are available in the form of pressure
aerosols. These are administration of potent drugs. This method
has the advantage of excellent control of dose through metered
valves.
Insufflations are used to produce a local effect ,as in the
treatment of ear ,nose and throat infection with antibiotics.
Snuffs:-these are finely divided solid dosage forms of
medicament which are inhaled into nostrils for its antiseptic,
bronchodilator and decongestion action.
Snuffs are dispensed in flat metal boxes with hinged lid.

Dentifrices(tooth powders):-these are applied with the

help of a tooth brush for cleaning the surface of the teeth. they
contain a suitable detergent or soap, some abrasive substance
and a suitable flavor.
The abrasive agents such calcium sulphate ,magnesium
carbonate , sodium carbonate and sodium chloride are used in
fine powder. A strong abrasive substance should however not
to be used as it may damage the tooth structure.
Simple and compound powders for internal
use:-In this form of powder ,each individual dose is
enclosed in paper. the number of ingredients may be one or
more then one. the minimum quantity of each powder should
not be less than 100mg so that it can be handled conveniently
by patient and can be weighed accurately
simple powder:-A simple powder contains only one ingredient
either in crystalline or amorphous form .
Eg:-aspirin
compound powders :-compound powders contain two or more
than two substance which are mixed together and then divided
into desired number of individual doses which are dispersed
into each powder paper.
Eg:-compound aspirin powder.
POWDER ENCLOSED IN CACHTS:-cachets
are the solid unit dosage form of drugs. these are
moulded from rice paper, which is made by pouring a
mixture of rice flour and water between two hot,
polished , revolving cylinders.
The water evaporates and a sheet of wafer is formed.
cachets are used to enclose nauseous or disagreeable
powders and are available in different sizes to hold
drugs from 0.2to 1.5 of powders.
Cachets are also known as water capsules. They are
quite hard to swallow as such but they are softened by
dipping in water for a few seconds and then placed on
the tongue and swallowed with a draught of water.
After swallowing cachet gets disintegrate and drug is
released.
Advantages of cachets:-
(1)they can be made easily no complicated machinery is
required.
(2) they disintegrate quickly in the stomach.
(3)the drug can be easily dispensed in cachets.
Disadvantages of cachets:-
(1)they must be softened before swallowing.
(2)they are easily damaged.
(3)they cannot protect the enclosed drug from light and
moisture.
(4)the shell of cachets are fragile, so the drug contents cannot
be compressed n cachets.
(5)they occupy more space than the corresponding sizes of
capsules and tablets.
Cachets are two types:-
(a)wet seal cachets
(b)dry seal cachets

(a)wet seal cachets:-a wet seal cachets is made up of

two similar convex halves having flat edges. The
weighted quantity of powdered drug is placed in one
half, the edges of the other half are moistened with
water and placed exactly over the first half containing
the drug. The flat edges of both the halves are pressed
together in order to seal it perfectly.
Dry seal cachets:-dry seal cachets consists of
two halves, the upper half and lower half. The
diameter of the upper half is slightly larger than
the lower half. The powdered drug is filled in
lower half and upper half is fitted over it. the filled
cachets are then sealed in a machine by pressing
the two halves,removd and packed in boxes.
packed and storage of cachets:-the cachets are
packed in boxes or tins in which they are placed
on their edges or lying flat. the container cachets
should be labeled with a direction for its use.
Tablet triturates:-these are powders moulded into
tablets. Mounled tablets are flat , circular disk and
usually contains a potent substance which is mixed with
lactose, dextrose or some other suitable diluents.

Nowadays automatic tablet triturate machine are

available which can prepare 2500 tablet triturates per
minute.
Dispensing of powders involving special
problems:-
(1) hygroscopic and deliquescent powders:-
the powders which absorb moisture from the
atmosphere are called hygroscopic powders. but certain
powders absorb moisture to such a great extent that they
go into solution and are called deliquescent powders.
E,g of such substance include ammonium chloride, iron
and ammonium citrate, phenobarbitone,sodium
bromide, sodium iodide, pot. citrate, zinc chloride etc.
such substance are usually supplied in granular from in
order to expose less surface area to the atmosphere.
These powders should not be finely powdered. Such
powders should be double wrapped.
 (2)Efflorescent powder:-some crystalline substance
liberate water of crystallization wholly or partly on
exposure to humid atmosphere or during trituration
and thus become wet or liquefy.
Eg:-such substance include caffeine, citric acid, ferrous
sulphate etc.
(3)explosive substance:-when an oxidizing substance,
such as pot. chloride is mixed with reducing substance,
such as tannic acid are chance of violet explosion which
may lead to series consequences.
Eg.:-pot chloride, tannic acid, sucrose,sulphur.
 (4) Potent drugs::-the substance having a maximum
dose of less then one grain and poisonous substance are
regarded as the potent drugs, small quantities of potent drugs
should not be weighed on dispensing balance .the potent drug
is triturated with some diluents such as lactose in definite
proportion to make a weighable quantity for each powder.
Generally potent drug is reduced to fine powder and to this an
equal quantity of diluents is mixed by trituration in a
mortor,then the rest of diluents is incorporated in successive
portions with thorough trituration each time. the whole of the
diluents should never be added to the drug at one time
otherwise the potent drug will not be mixed uniformly and
thoroughly in the diluents.
E.g:-prednisolone,codeine phosphate
 (5)Granular powders:-there are certain solid
medicaments which are required to be administered
orally in large doses .they cannot be prescribed to take
as a single dose, which is not possible .these
medicaments are difficult to dispense as such in powder
form because of its bitter, nauseous and unpleasant taste
.it is also difficult to convert it into liquid dosage form
due to stability problem. the only alternative left is to
convert these powdered medicament into granular form.
 (6) Liquids:-in certain prescription, the liquid
medicaments are also incorporated in dispensing
powders. if the quantity of the liquid is small, it may be
triturated with an equal amount of powder, then the rest
of the ingredients are incorporated in small portion with
continuous trituration. If quantities of liquid are large
then an absorbent must be added. liquid extracts are
evaporated to syrup mass in a china dish. Lactose or
some other suitable diluents is mixed and then continue
the evaporation to dryness.mix other ingredients.
 Inhalation dosage forms
inhalation dosage forms are intended to deliver
drugs to the lungs. the lungs have a large surface area
and a rich blood supply to the alveolar epithelium both
of which favour rapid absorption.
Drugs administered via this route are to affect
pulmonary function or treat allergic symptoms. example
of drugs administered by inhalation include
adrenocorticoidsteroids(beclomethasone),bronchodilator
s (isoproterenol,metaproterenol,albuterol),and anti
allergic(cromolyn)
administrating drugs via this route is dependent on
factors which involve the formulation, the
administrating device,and the anatomy of the lungs.
 Inhalation formulation are generally solution,suspension,and
powders. these formulation are administered via aerosol or a
dry powder inhaler. Aerosols are devices where liquid or
suspension droplets are the internal phase and a gas is the
external phase.
Commercial aerosols are typically metered dose inhaler
(MDI)that deliver a fixed dose in a spray with each actuation
of the device. for compounded inhalation solution ,atomizer,
and vaporizers are the aerosol device.
Commercially available dry powder inhalers contain their
dry powders in manufactured cartridges or disks. when the
patient administers a dose, the devise is first activated by some
mechanical motion and the dry powder becomes ready for
inspiration.
 When the patient inhalers through the device
mouthpiece and the powder is drawn into the
pulmonary tract along with the inspired air. these
devices have overcome a major problem of inhalation
therapy, synchronizing deep inspiration with the
administration of the drug. Some of the devices are
Disk haler, turbuhaler,rotahaler.