The Effect of Humidity

While it is desirable for processing, handling and packaging purposes,
to produce tablets of high mechanical strength, the same
tablets are supposed to disintegrate rapidly upon contact with
water. Superdisintergrants built into tablet formulations help to
bridge these two extremes. The three main mechanisms exhibited
by disintegrants are swelling, wicking (i.e. transportation of water
into and throughout the tablet matrix), and shape recovery (i.e. a
delayed and controlled elastic recovery). Swelling can be attributed
to sodium starch glycolate (SSG) as its prevailing behavior.
Croscarmellose sodium (CCS) shows predominantly wicking,
whereas crospovidone (PVPP) is characterised by strong shape
recovery. It is noteworthy, though, that none of the disintegrants
falls into one sole category.