Spherical crystallization: A method for improving powder and tablet characteristics

Direct tabletting technique is the modern and the most efficient process used in tablet manufacturing which has been successfully used for various drugs. But the process strongly depends upon the quality of the crystals used. For improvement of direct compression properties of different poorly soluble drugs Kawashima and their coworkers developed the spherical crystallization technique in 1986, for size enlargement of the drug in the field of pharmacy. Agglomeration technique can transform directly the fine crystals, produced in the crystallization process into a spherical shape. Spherical crystallization is a particle design technique, by which crystallization and agglomeration can be carried out simultaneously in one step. This technique has been successfully utilized for improvement of powder properties such as particle size, shape and flow properties of crystalline drugs. Solubility enhancement of pharmaceutical drug is also investigated by spherical crystallization. In this review we will discuss about the advantages, method and parameters which can be improved by spherical crystallization process. In addition current and future prospects of spherical crystallization are also discussed.