Let the Oil Free-Flow
SYLOID® XDP silica carrier transforms oils like vitamin E into free-flowing powders
Free radicals, unstable molecules that can cause damage to cells and DNA, are an inevitable part of living. Air pollution, tobacco smoke, viruses, and even normal metabolism can result in their production and contribute to chronic diseases and premature aging. Antioxidants, including vitamin E, have been shown to neutralize free radicals by electron donation, stabilizing their unwanted effects.
However, transforming vitamin E into a convenient supplement is challenging. Vitamin E is an oily active nutraceutical ingredient that won’t dissolve in water. It can be loaded into a softgel capsule, but the process is difficult and very costly. In addition, softgels aren’t highly stable and can break down or leak at the seams, which results in decomposition of the oil and loss of active vitamin E.
Grace chemists have developed a means to avoid the pitfalls of softgel production and use by transforming oily pharmaceuticals and nutraceuticals into solid dosage forms. Tablets and hard-shell capsules that are more shelf-stable are possible when made with a silica carrier such as Grace’s SYLOID® XDP. When mixed at a 1:1 starting ratio of silica carrier to oily liquid, SYLOID® XDP silica converts an oily liquid like vitamin E to a free-flowing powder ideal for forming into tablets, without the need for solvents.
Optimum carrying capacity without solvents
SYLOID® XDP silica takes advantage of the physical structure of silica gel, which is naturally mesoporous. The outside and inside of a mesoporous silica particle contain tunnel-like pores of varying width that can be packed with an oily nutraceutical like vitamin E.
The result is a free-flowing powder that’s easy to form into tablets, hard-shell capsules, or even gummies. Moreover, unlike with most carriers for oily nutritional and active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), with SYLOID® XDP silica there is no need for solvents to dissolve oils and hence no drying step is needed. This makes the manufacturing easier, faster, and more cost efficient.
Efficient load and release for higher dosages and smaller tablets
In loading and release studies using vitamin E, SYLOID® XDP silica outperformed two other carriers—granulated fumed silica and magnesium aluminum silicate—in both loading capacity and release from the carrier. That means SYLOID® XDP silica was able to pack more vitamin E into its pores and then release it more efficiently, making it possible to achieve higher dosage strengths.
And since SYLOID® XDP silica takes up less volume than other silica carriers, it packs the same amount of nutritional oil into a smaller, easier-to-swallow tablet. SYLOID® XDP silica complies with monograph of silicon dioxide established by USP.
Vitamin E is an oily nutraceutical that is more convenient to carry and consume in a tablet rather than a liquid or softgel dosage form. Converting this nutritional oil into a high-performing, free-flowing powder translates to more antioxidant power in every tablet. What’s more radical than that?
Grace has been a leader in silica gel manufacturing for over 55 years. To produce SYLOID® XDP silica, researchers at Grace optimized the size, surface area, density, and pore volume of the product’s silica particles. The pores of this silica carrier can hold a volume of oil equivalent to 1.5 times the weight of the silica itself. While other carriers rely on solvents to load an API into the pores, the physical structure of SYLOID® XDP silica loads the oil directly without extra steps, chemicals, or drying time.
Contact us to learn more about how SYLOID® XDP silica can be a carrier for your nutritional oils.