3 minute read
HPMC – the capsule technology with a wider appeal
Natural clean and vegan are today’s buzzwords – even in the pharmaceutical industry. To align with consumers’ health, wellness and cultural needs, manufacturers of dietary supplements are moving away from gelatine capsules in favour of plant-based options such as HPMC. Abby Vorster talks to Scott Watson, sales director of Marsing & Co Africa, about why HPMC capsules have become a more popular option for encapsulation.
IS THE TREND TOWARDS VEGAN CAPSULES EVIDENT IN THE SOUTH AFRICAN DIETARY SUPPLEMENTS MARKET?
SW: More and more consumers are pursuing healthier lifestyles and choosing more natural, healthier and safer products as a result. From food to cosmetics and even dietary supplements (or nutraceuticals), consumers are re-evaluating what they consume. As a result, vegan capsules have become a very popular option for dietary supplements with more and more manufacturers looking to change products encapsulated in gelatine or animal-derived capsules to vegan alternatives.
WHAT TYPES OF VEGETABLE CAPSULES ARE AVAILABLE LOCALLY?
SW: Both hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC) and pullulan capsules are available in South Africa. HPMC is a plant-derived cellulose, which is approved worldwide by the FDA for normal human consumption.
HPMC capsules were first developed over 30 years ago as a vegetarian alternative to hard gelatine capsules. Since then, they have been approved in many countries by vegan and vegetarian societies and certified as kosher and halal.
The second option, pullulan capsules, are also based on a natural polymer that is sourced from fungi grown on a starch substrate. The cost of pullulan capsules is almost triple that of HPMC, so manufacturers often opt for HPMC as their plant-based capsule of choice.
Marsing & Co Africa is the exclusive local agents for Shandong Healsee (Healsee) – a specialist producer of HPMC vegecaps. We supply manufacturers of dietary supplements and pharma products throughout southern African with Healsee’s high-quality HPMC vegecaps. Our principal produces over 20 billion capsules annually covering all size requirements, from 000, 00 and 00 EL to 0, 1, 2, 3 and 4. Healsee also offers a printing service whereby text or graphics are printed directly on capsules for customers who require a solution to differentiate their products.
APART FROM BEING COSTEFFECTIVE, ARE THERE OTHER BENEFITS TO HPMC CAPSULES?
SW: Compared to gelatine capsules, which are sensitive to humidity, HPMC capsules have lower moisture content, making them better-suited to medicinal preparations that easily absorb moisture and/or react with moisture content.
Because they are plant-based, HPMC capsules are suitable for vegans and vegetarians as well as consumers who avoid bovine or porcine-derived products for religious or cultural reasons. Therefore, dietary supplements and pharmaceuticals packaged in HPMC capsules are far more accessible to consumers of all walks of life.
Did you know?
Capsule quality can influence manufacturing speed and production in terms of yield. Inferior-quality capsules may slow productivity and often result in a lot of rejects on the line. In comparison, Marsing & Co Africa’s high-quality HPMC vegecaps run efficiently on capsule filling machines from automatic highspeed to semi-automated equipment, ensuring maximum yield and a superior finished product.
CONSIDERING THE GLOBAL DEMAND, IS IT POSSIBLE TO ENSURE AN UNINTERRUPTED SUPPLY OF HPMC VEGECAPS LOCALLY?
SW: Yes – and we can guarantee their quality. Healsee is a subsidiary of Shandong Head – one of Asia’s largest producers of HPMC that is used in the pharma and food industries. Healsee is also one of the largest manufacturers of HMPC capsules in China and the fifth largest in the world. It is home to 38 automatic HPMC capsule production lines which it will increase to 46 during the third quarter of 2021, as Healsee plans to install another eight production lines.
As one of only a handful of vertically integrated producers of HPMC capsules worldwide, Healsee can meet the needs of any manufacturer of pharmaceuticals and nutraceuticals or dietary supplements – be it a specific colour or capsule size – as the company carries a large variety of solutions. It also guarantees capsules of a consistently high quality, ensuring the best performance on capsule filling machines. •
