Taste Masking Technologies of Pharmaceuticals

Taste is one of the most important parameters governing patient compliance. Several oral pharmaceuticals and bulking agents have unpleasant bitter taste. The problem of bitter and obnoxious taste of drug in paediatric and geriatric formulations is a challenge to the formulator in the present scenario. In order to ensure patient compliance bitterness masking becomes essential. Taste masking technologies offer a great scope for invention and patents. several approaches like adding flavors and sweeteners, use of lipoproteins for inhibiting bitterness, numbing of taste buds, coating of drug with inert agents, microencapsulation, multiple emulsion, viscosity modifiers, vesicles and liposomes, prodrug formation, salt formation, formation of inclusion and molecular complexes, solid dispersion system and application of ion exchange resins have been tried by the formulators to mask the unpleasant taste of the bitter drugs. The present review attempts to give a brief account of different technologies of taste masking with respect to dosage forms and novel methods of evaluation of taste masking effect.