Understanding the Tabletting Characteristics of Ficus deltoidea Powder by Fitting into Compression Models

The objective of this paper was to investigate the characteristics of Ficus deltoidea powders during tablet formation using a direct compression method. To understand the data further, compression models were fitted, which included those of Heckel, Kawakita, Adams and Panelli–Filho. F. deltoidea is well‐known for its therapeutic properties when used in the form of an extracted powder. We further investigated the effect of the binders Avicel and Acdisol, which are known as a universal binder and a superdisintegrant, respectively. The physical properties, flowability and particle structures were determined to compare behavior and as references to the compression models used. The data were mostly consistent with those predicted by the compression models. As a result, applying compression models, especially the Kawakita model, was successfully performed and can be further related to the development and production of compact F. deltoidea tablets. Thus, this paper provides a fundamental understanding on the tabletting characteristics of F. deltoidea extract powder. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: In this study, a direct compression method was adopted to form the Ficus deltoidea extract powder into tablets. For further investigation, the F. deltoidea extract powder was mixed with two different binders, Avicel and Acdisol, in different ranges of composition. Hence, the pressure and effect of various process variables such as the food powder on tablet density and strength were obtained. For this reason, a study was conducted to increase our understanding of the tablet characteristics of F. deltoidea powder and binders by fitting the data into compression models. Four models had been proposed to reflect the physical and mechanical properties of powders and how these characteristics can be successfully applied in research. Finally, the best fitting compression model was chosen for further development and production of F. deltoidea compact tablets.