Research & Reviews: Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences ISSN: 2320-1215

Taste Masking of Oral Pharmaceutics: A Review

Shuruti Roy*, Riddhi Upadhyay, Jigar Vyas, Umesh Upadhyay

Department of Pharmacy, Sigma Institute of Pharmacy, Bakrol, Gujrat, India

Review Article

Received: 02-Mar-2022, Manuscript No. ABSTRACT

JPPS-23-93736; Editor assigned: 08-Mar-
2022, Pre QC No. JPPS-23-93736 (PQ); Taste, texture and smell are the crucial factors in development of
Reviewed: 22- Mar-2022, QC No. JPPS-23- oral dosage forms. Taste is a factor which influences product
93736; Revised: 29-Mar-2023, quality and hence affects the therapeutic value, compliance, and
Manuscript No. JPPS-23-93736 (R); acceptance of the patient, and so taste masking of obnoxious
Published: 26-Apr-2022, DOI: drugs is important as most of them are administered orally. This
10.4172/2320-1215.12.2.001 reason is an initiative for the development of various taste
*For Correspondence: masking technologies through which the characteristics of the
Shuruti Roy, Department of Pharmacy, dosage form is improved. The main objective of this review is to
Sigma Institute of Pharmacy, Bakrol, explore taste masking and its various methodologies for increasing
Gujrat, India palatability for oral pharmaceuticals along with evaluation.
E-mail: [email protected]
Keywords: Taste masking; Taste Masking Techniques; Bitter drugs;
Patient compliance; Taste assessment
Citation: Roy S, et al. Taste Masking of
Oral Pharmaceutics: A Review.
2023;12:001.
Copyright: © 2023 Roy S, et al. This is an
open-access article distributed under the
terms of the Creative Commons
Attribution License, which permits
unrestricted use, distribution and
reproduction in any medium, provided the
original author and source are credited.

INTRODUCTION

Taste, texture and smell are the crucial factors in development of oral dosage forms. Taste is a factor which
influences product quality and hence affects the therapeutic value, compliance, and acceptance of the patient,
and so taste masking of obnoxious drugs is important as most of them are administered orally. This reason is an
initiative for the development of various taste masking technologies through which the characteristics of the
dosage form is improved. The main objective of this review is to explore taste masking and its various

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methodologies for increasing palatability for oral pharmaceuticals along with evaluation [1].

Factors that are taken in consideration during the process of taste masking are:

 Extent of the bitter taste

 Required dose load and dosage form

 Drug particulate shape and size distribution

 Drug solubility and ionic characteristics

 Required disintegration and dissolution rate of the finished product

 Desired bioavailability and release profile

Properties of an ideal taste masking process:

 No adverse effect on drug bioavailability

 Involve the least number of equipment and processing steps

 Easy to prepare and least manufacturing cost

 Can be carried out at room temperature

 Require minimum number of excipients that are safe, easily available and have lower cost

Taste masking technologies

The methods commonly utilized for achieving effective taste masking include different physical and chemical
methods that prevent the drug substance from interaction with the taste buds. So that different methods are
available to mask undesirable taste of the drugs. A few of these are as given below [2].

LITERATURE REVIEW

The methods

Commonly utilized for achieving effective taste masking include different physical and chemical methods that
prevent the drug substance from interaction with the taste buds. So that different methods are available to mask
undesirable taste of the drugs. A few of these are as given below [3].

Use of flavor enhancers

Flavoring and perfuming agents can be obtained from either natural or synthetic sources. Natural products include
fruit juices, aromatic oils such as peppermint and lemon oil, herbs, spices and their distilled fractions. They are
available as concentrated extracts, alcohol or aqueous solutions, syrups or spirits. The use of flavor enhancers are
limited to substances with an unpleasant taste and is not applicable to the oral administration of very bitter-
tasting medicines such as various antibiotics. It is important to understand that only the soluble part of the drug
can produce a taste sensation [4]. The addition of flavors and sweeteners is the simplest and easiest approach to
taste masking, especially in the case of pediatric formulations (Table 1).

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Table 1. Flavoring agents for taste masking.

Basic taste Masking agents

Sweet Vanilla, bubble gum, grapefruit

Acid Lemon, lime, orange, cherry, grapefruit
Metallic Grape, marsh, mellow, gurana, berries, mints
Liquorices, coffee, chocolate, mint, grapefruit
Bitter cherry, peach, raspberry, orange, lemon, lime

Polymer coating of drugs

Coating is an extremely useful method for number of applications within the pharmaceutical field. By planning the
correct type of coating material it is possible to completely mask the taste of a bitter drug. Any nontoxic polymer
that is insoluble at basic pH and soluble at acidic pH, would be an acceptable alternative for taste masking [5].

Taste masking of ibuprofen has been effectively accomplished by utilizing the air suspension coating technique to
form microcapsules, which comprises a pharmaceutical core of a crystalline ibuprofen and methacrylic acid
copolymer coating that provides chewable taste veiled characteristics. Various inert coating agents like starch;
povidone, gelatin, methylcellulose, ethyl cellulose etc. are utilized for coating drug particles. One of the most
effective method of drug particle coating is the fluidized bed processor [6].

Inclusion complexes

In the formation of the inclusion complex, the drug molecule fits into the cavity of the complexing agent i.e., the
host molecules forms a stable complex. Chelating agent can mask the bitterness of a drug by either decreasing its
oral solubility when ingested or by decreasing the amount of drug particles exposed to the taste buds, thereby
reducing the perception of bitterness. Betacyclodextrin is the most widely used complexing agent for inclusion
complexes. The strong bitter taste of carbapentane citrate syrup was reduced to about 50% by forming a 1:1
complex with cyclodextrin [7].

Microencapsulation

Microencapsulation process has been characterized as a means of applying relatively thin coating to small
particles of solid, droplets of fluid and dispersion. This prepare can be utilized for masking of bitter tasting drugs
microencapsulating drug particles with different coating agents. Coating agents employed includes gelatin,
povidone, hydroxy propyl methylcellulose, ethyl cellulose, bees wax, carnauba wax, acrylics and shellac. Bitter
tasting drugs can first be encapsulated to produce free flowing microcapsules, which can then be blended with
other excipients and compressed into tablets. Microencapsulation can be accomplished by variety of methods
including air suspension, coacervation, phase separation, spray drying and coagulating, pan coating, solvent
evaporation and multiorifice centrifugation techniques [8].

Solid dispersion

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They are dispersions of one or more active ingredient in an inert carrier or matrix in solid state, and insoluble
matrices may be used to mask the taste of bitter drugs. Carriers used in solid dispersion systems include
povidone, polyethylene glycols, hydroxypropyl methylcellulose, urea, mannitol and ethylcellulose [9].

Multiple emulsions

A novel technique for taste masking agents using multiple emulsions was prepared by dissolving the drug in the
inner aqueous phase of w/o/w emulsion under conditions of good storage stability. The formulation is designed to
release the drug through the oil phase in the presence of gastrointestinal fluid [10].

Development of liposome

Another way of masking the unpleasant taste of therapeutic agent is to entrap them into liposome. For example,
incorporation into a liposome product prepared with egg phosphatidyl choline masked the bitterness of
chloroquine phosphate in a pH 7.2 HEPES (N-2-hydroxyetylpiperzine-N’-2-ethane sulfonic acid) buffer [11].

Prodrug

Prodrugs are chemically modified, inert prodrugs, that release pharmacologically active parent drug during
biotransformation. Examples of drug with improved taste are given below (Table 2).

Table 2. Prodrugs with improved taste.

Parent drug Prodrug with improved taste

Chloramphenicol Palmitate ester

Clindamycin Palmitate ester

Triamcinolone Diacetate ester

Anthelmintic activity

This technique using the solvent mixture of water soluble polyethylene glycol to soften the active blend, using
methanol to expel the softened mass from the extruder or syringe to get even segments of the cylinder of the
product using heated blade to form tablets. The dry cylinder can also be used to coat the granules of the bitter
tasting drugs, thereby masking their bitterness [12].

Ion exchange resin complexes

Ion exchange resins are solid and suitably insoluble high molecular weight polyelectrolytes that can exchange their
mobile ions of equal charge with the surrounding medium. The resulting ion exchange is reversible and
stiochiometric with the displacement of one ionic species by another [13]. Synthetic ion exchange resin has been
used in pharmacy and medicine for taste masking or controlled release of drug as early as. Some bitter drugs
whose taste has been masked by using ion exchange resin are listed in the (Table 3).

Table 3. Bitter masked by ion exchange resin.

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Drug Ion exchange resin

Norfloxacin Indion 204 (weak cation exchange resin)

Roxithromycin Indion 204 (weak cation exchange resin)
Ciprofloxacin Indion 234 (weak cation exchange resin)
Chloroquine phosphate Indion 234 (weak cation exchange resin)
Buflomedil Amberlite IRP-69
Chlorepheniramine
maleate Indion CRP-244, Indion CRP-254
Diphenhydramine HCL Indion CRP-244, Indion CRP-254
Ranitidine Indion-234, cation anion exchange resin

Ion Exchange Resins (IER) have received considerable attention from pharmaceutical scientists because of their
versatile properties as drug delivery vehicles.

Several ion exchange resin products for oral and parenteral administration have been developed for immediate
release and sustained release purposes. Recent research IER has been found to be equally suitable for drug
delivery technology includes sustained release, transdermal, nasal, topical and taste masking [14].

DISCUSSION

In vivo evaluation

Panel testing (human subject): With prior consent, on a trained taste panel of 5-10 healthy volunteers with
sensual sensations. When the dosage form was placed in the mouth for 60 seconds, the bitterness recorded
against pure drug using a numerical scale [15].

The numerical scale may bears values as 0=pleasant, 1=tasteless, 2=no bitter but after taste give bitterness,
3=immediately gives bitterness, 4=slightly bitter, 5=extremely bitter. Then taste the test solution and evaluate it
on the same scale to assess its bitterness. Reference reports a panel test of all taste mask drugs being evaluated.

Measurement of frog taste nerve responses: In this method, an adult bullfrog is anesthetized intraperitoneally and
the glossopharyngeal nerve is anesthetized. Then find the surrounding tissue, dissect it, and cut it proximally. AC
amplifiers and electronic integrators are used to amplify and integrate neural impulses, respectively. The peak
height of the integrated response is then considered the magnitude of the response [16].

In vitro evaluation

Electronic/artificial tongue: The electronic tongue is an analytical instrument encompassing an array of

nonspecific, low- selective, chemical sensors with high stability and cross sensitivity to different species in solution
and an appropriate method of PARC and/or multivariate calibration for data processing [17].

The working principle of an electronic tongue system (Figure 1) was inspired by biological recognition where
information is gathered with the use of arrays of non-specific sensors in the tongue and the data is subsequently
processed in the brain. The Physical, chemical and biochemical properties of the samples are measured by means
of an array of sensors, which translate those specific attributes to an analytical signal (optical,

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electrophysiological, electrochemical etc.).

The obtained data is then analysed by means of chemometric methods and artificial intelligence to achieve a
similar goal, i.e., discriminate, identify or quantify the sample, which provide final information about the sample for
example discriminate tea samples by their geographical origin (Figure 1).

Figure 1. Working principle of electronic tongue.

Sensor arrays of this kind initially appeared in the 1990’s and were largely applied for the analysis of ions and
heavy metals as well as evaluation of taste and spoilage of food products. Mimicking human taste is
advantageous in circumstances when human expert panels should not or cannot be applied, because of process
conditions as in instance of automatic process control especially on an industrial scale; poisonous/extreme
condition samples e.g., repetitive tasting of drugs and pharmaceuticals; economic bases, defined in terms of time
or financial expenses.

Sensors employed in the electronic tongue systems range from electrochemical (potentiometric, amperometric,
voltammetric, impedimetric, conductometric) through gravimetric to optical (absorbance, luminescence,
reflectance etc.). An ideal matrix should be composed of both selective and cross sensitive sensors. According to
IUPAC report, cross-sensitivity is an ability of a sensor to respond reproducibly to a number of different analytes in
the solution. Generally, electronic tongue systems are built from few to dozens of sensors of a single type, the
most common being potentiometric and voltammetric. The first electronic tongue that became commercially
available in the market was constructed by Toko and co-workers. Taste Sensing Systems (intelligent sensor
technology inc., Atsugi-shi, Kanagawa, Japan) are established on Toko’s idea and consist of 7 potentiometric
electrodes with lipid polymeric membranes (Figure 2).

Figure 2. TS-5000Z taste sensing system, intelligent sensor technology inc., Japan.

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Another eminent distributed commercial tongue is astree II (alpha MOS, toulouse, France). It is composed of 7 Ion
Selective Field Effect Transistors (ISFET) and is devoted to discriminate samples according to their taste
properties (Figure 3).

Figure 3. Alpha MOS astree II parts: A) liquid autosampler with a capacity for 16 bakers, B) electrochemical sensor
array, C) acquisition unit, D) astree software V12.4 (alpha MOS).

Spectrophotometric method

A established quantity of the taste masked formulation is mixed with 10 ml of distilled water in a 10 ml syringe by
revolving the syringe, end to end; five times in 30 seconds. The filter medium is then used to filter the test
medium, accompined by spectrophotometric determination of the concentration of the drug in the filtrate. If this
concentration is below the threshold concentration, it may be concluded that the bitter taste would be masked in
vivo. This technique has been applied to assess the taste masked granules of sparfloxacin, with threshold
concentration being 100 μg/ml (Figure 4).

Figure 4. Explain the various methods of taste masking of evulations.

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CONCLUSION

In this article we have made an attempt to explain the various methods, that may be suitable for taste masking of
bitter drugs. There are many techniques to effectively mask the unpleasant taste of a drugs as explained, but it
requires proficient application that does not affect the bioavailability of the drug. By applying these techniques
and properly assessing the effect of masking the taste, product preferences can be significantly improved. In
addition, the development of taste masking methods requires good technical skills and the need for extensive
experimentation. The methods described in this review can be used at both laboratory scale and pilot scales.

Sensor platform are undergoing true revolution in the search of a more available, less expensive and often
disposable alternatives to sophisticated equipment sensors. As a result of which recently paper was rediscovered
as a valuable substrate for electronic applications, sensors and microfluidic platforms. The growing interest in
paper during the last few years can be attributed to its unique structural and mechanical properties i.e lightness,
flexibility, capillary action, high surface to volume ratio; natural origin (biodegradability), easiness of modification
and availability all over the world.

The fact that electronic tongue system have great diversity of applications creates a significant demand for their
future development especially in the trend of low cost diagnostic thus the electrochemical electronic tongue with
integrated reference electrodes based on paper was developed. The final system included four working silver
electrodes with paper based Ag/AgCl reference all integrated in one miniaturised device and was successfully
applied for the analysis of beer and wine samples. Paper based colorimetric tests were also joined to form an
array able to identify eleven common organic solvents. The development of paper as a tool for evaluation of taste
masking still hasn’t been explored to it’s full potential and thus has promising future in further research.

REFERENCES

1. Vaziri A, et al. Slow release of chloroquine phosphate from multiple taste-masked W/O/W multiple emulsions. J
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3. Raghunathan Y, et al. Sustained‐release drug delivery system I: Coated ion exchange resin system for
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