ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION Effervescence has proved its utility as an oral delivery system in the pharmaceutical and dietary industries for decades. In Europe, effervescent dosage forms are widespread, and their use is growing in the United States and other countries. Effervescent granulation is an important step of “fizzy” dosage forms production that most of the time cannot be avoided to achieve the desired characteristics of the effervescent tablets. It is very critical also because it can affect stability of the final dosage forms. The first effervescent preparations were described over two centuries ago, in the official compendia; they were in powders to use as cathartic salts. Later, in 1815, a patent describes “a combination of neutral salt or powder which possesses all the properties of the medicinal spring of Seidlitz in Germany, under the name of Seidlitz Powders,” which contains sodium potassium tartrate, sodium bicarbonate, and tartaric acid, in the proportions 3:1:1, respectively (1). Effervescent granules and tablets have become more and more popular as dosage forms because they are promptly soluble and easy to take.