Coating process of Phyllanthus niruri Linn granules using spouted bed

Phyllantus niruri Linn or stonebreaker plant has recently received increasing interest for use as a pharmaceutical drug form. However, modernization by means of quality control and standardization of medicinal herbal plants applications as pharmaceutical drug forms is critical for international acceptance. Therefore, using a spouted bed, the coating process of stonebreaker granules was modeled to understand the critical parameters influencing coating efficiency, particle growth and agglomeration index. A 2(3) factorial experimental design using atomization pressure, feed flow rate and inlet temperature was implemented. Results revealed coating efficiencies ranging from 40% to 93%, mean particle growths of 9.7% and agglomeration indexes, which is an undesirable result, close to 0%. Initially models revealed that low temperatures/low coating flow rate or high temperatures/high coating flow rate provided more efficient coating. Further analysis proved that is relative humidity, a scalable variable, the most critical parameter on process efficiency. (C) 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.