Disintegrants 

We all know tablets are solid dosage forms and they must break down to get absorbed into the body to achieve this we must use disintegrants in appropriate amounts.

To be readily available to the body the drug must be in solution form, and this is achieved by the use of disintegrants.  The tablet upon contact with the body fluids starts breaking down into aggregates due to the presence of disintegrant. One of the main mechanisms of disintegrating agents is upon contact with water or gastric fluids, they absorb the fluids and swell thereby facilitating the breakdown of the tablet.

Disintegrants enhance dissolution and improve bioavailability, these are used at two stages before wetting as intragranular material and as extra granular materials before compression during blending.

Recently the use of super disintegrants has started as they have markedly reduced the disintegration time of tablets.

Some of the commonly used disintegrants are starch, alginic acid, crospovidone, gums like guar gum, povidone, sodium lauryl sulfate, etc.