Flavor Masking of Drug Products

Many drug actives are bitter, some intensely so. A common reaction is to add a flavor to the formulation in an attempt to mask its bitterness – orange, grape, mint. This approach, however is never successful owing to differences in human anatomy and physiology.

Bitter – along with sweet, sour, and salty – are perceived by taste buds on the tongue. Orange, grape, mint and all other flavors are comprised of aroma chemicals that are perceived via the sense of smell. Just like the sense of sight has no impact on hearing, flavors (smell) cannot mask bitterness (taste).

The only way to reduce bitterness is by balancing with the complementary tastes – sweet, sour and salty – via the mechanism of taste/taste interaction, the foundational principle of taste and flavor masking.

Once the bitterness has been reduced, pharmaceutical flavoring agents such as orange, grape or mint can be selected based on compatibility with the drug active and excipients, patient demographics, as well as dosing frequency and other quality of life factors.

So-called “masking flavors” are sometimes lauded by the flavor industry as a means to mask bitter tastes.  However, these flavoring compounds are designed to blend with the minor bitter tastes and off-aromas encountered in the food industry.  This approach is generally insufficient to mask a strong bitter taste and intense negative aromatics of many drugs.  Medicines which use aromatics to mask flavors are only solving half the problem. A proper drug formulation requires a robust and balanced base to achieve palatability.

This is the art and science of taste masking – a field that Senopsys continues to pioneer.