[Preparation of orally disintegrating tablets for masking of unpleasant taste: comparison with corrective-adding methods].

Many orally disintegrating tablets have recently been developed to improve oral ingestion and usability and are widely administered clinically, resulting in improved quality of life for patients. Since orally disintegrating tablets rapidly disintegrate in the mouth, the masking of unpleasant taste is important. We investigated the masking of the taste of furosemide (FU) as a model drug with correctives and prepared orally disintegrating tablets. Using maltitol (MA) as a corrective, granules were prepared employing mixing, coating, and mixing/coating methods using a desktop granulator. Each preparation was subjected to tasting. The taste was masked well when granules were prepared by the mixing and mixing/coating methods. Tablets were prepared from these granules with mannitol and crystalline cellulose added as fillers. Tablets made from granules prepared by the mixing and mixing/coating methods showed appropriate strength and disintegrated rapidly. When the amount of MA was increased in the mixing method, the disintegration time was prolonged, and thus the amount should be determined considering both taste masking and disintegration property. The results showed that orally disintegrating tablets of insoluble drugs with an unpleasant taste such as FU should be prepared with the taste masked employing the methods used in this study.