Download Medication Flavoring

Medication Flavoring
Practicum in Pharmacy Technician
Introduction
› Successfully flavoring a medication is a critical step in the
process of properly preparing a prescription, especially when
the taste of a particular drug is such that it will not be
tolerated by the patient when administered orally.
Psychological Impact
› Although no therapeutic benefit is evident, using the proper
coloring and flavoring for medicinal substances is
psychologically important.
› A medication that is disagreeable in either appearance,
texture, or taste can be made more attractive and palatable by
adding the appropriate flavoring, sweetening, or coloring
agent.
Sensory Roles in Flavoring
› Taste, smell, sight, touch, and even sound are complex
experiences that may influence the flavor sensation.
› Individuals are more sensitive to the aroma of a preparation
than the actual taste.
› Elderly may need extra flavor to achieve desired result.
› Females tend to be more sensitive to smell than males.
› Certain diseases or treatments will alter a patients ability to
taste and smell.
Sensory Roles in Flavoring
› Sight and sound play an important role in flavor experience
when certain reflexes become conditioned through
association.
› Example Pavolov’s Dog.
› The color of a preparation and flavor should coincide.
› For example, Cherry flavoring should be paired with red
coloring, Grape with purple.
Flavoring Considerations
› Be aware of any allergies or sensitivities a patient may have to
a particular ingredient, such as chocolate, peanuts, or
preservatives and dyes.
› Know the patients likes and dislikes.
› Children have more taste buds than adults and are more
sensitive to taste.
› Infants and children tend to prefer tastes that are sweet and
do not respond well to bitter.
› Appropriate flavor choices for children include: raspberry,
bubblegum, marshmallow, berry, and vanilla.
Flavoring Considerations
› Adults are usually more tolerate of a bitter flavor, so with
extremely bitter drugs, a flavoring agent such as coffee,
chocolate, cherry, grapefruit, or mint is acceptable.
› Other factors to be considered include:
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Stability
Solubility
pH
Physical Properties
› Aqueous solutions should be flavored with water miscible
flavors, whereas oil preparations will require and oil-based
flavoring.
Four Taste Types
› There are 4 Basic Taste Experiences:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Sour
Sweet
Bitter
Salty
› Each taste type is experienced in a specific area of the tongue that
contains taste buds with specialized functions.
› Sweet, Salty, and Sour taste receptors are in a region just inside the
outer edge of the tongue.
› Salty and Sour receptors are located in a small region toward the
back of the tongue.
› Sour-only is located in the center of the tongue.
› There is an area toward the center and front of the tongue where
no sensation of taste is experienced.
Tastes Needing Flavoring
1. Salty Taste – best hidden in a cinnamon syrup.
2. Bitter Taste – cocoa syrup is usually the best choice for
covering bitter drugs, followed by cinnamon syrup or citrus
syrup.
3. Sour Taste – Raspberry syrup and other fruit syrups are
effective in covering the taste of sour substances.
4. Oily Taste – can be disguised by using peppermint or
wintergreen.
• Simply adding a flavoring or coloring agent will not guarantee
that a bad tasting drug will taste good.
Flavoring Techniques
› Every formula that requires flavoring should be analyzed
individually.
› Five Basic Flavoring Techniques:
1. Blending – uses a flavor that will blend with the drug taste.
• Citrus blends with sour tastes
• Bitter can be blended with salty, sweet, and sour
• Salt reduces bitterness and sourness and increases sweetness.
2. Overshadowing- involves the use of a flavor with a stronger intensity
that the original product.
• Example: wintergreen
3. Chemical Methods- include absorbing the drug with an ingredient
that eliminates the taste of the offensive drug.
Flavoring Techniques
4. Physical Method- include the formulation of insoluble ingredients
into a suspension; emulsification of oils.
• When the offensive tasting ingredient is placed in the oil phase and the flavoring
agent is placed in the aqueous phase.
5. Physiological Method – involve using an additive such as menthol,
peppermint or a spice to anesthetize the taste buds within the tongue.
• These flavor products will reduce the sensitivity of the taste buds to bitterness.
Sweeteners
› A sweetening agent must be using in order for the preparation
to be palatable.
› Flavoring agents are not sweet; they are more bitter.
› Common sweeteners include: sucrose, dextrose, corn syrup,
sorbitol, and mannitol.
› It is important to know their physical properties, such as
aftertaste, temperature sensitivity, pH, and sweetening ability.
› The amount required should be calculated accordingly.
Coloring
› Proper color is equally important.
› It is not necessary to color a product.
› If a coloring agent is used it should match the flavor of the
product.
› Allergies to dyes should be confirmed beforehand.
› There are dye-free coloring agents.