Sugars with different thickening power in high shear granulation

Sugars and sweeteners are common ingredients in foods and also in pharmaceutical industries. They are soluble and sticky ingredients and their processing in granulators may be difficult since they can easily adhere to mixer walls or lead to uncontrolled granule growth. The purpose of this research was to evaluate the feasibility of the high shear wet granulation process and to find the optimal amount of binder by studying the granulation performances of four sugars: mannitol, sorbitol, xylitol and sucrose in different amounts. Sugar interactions with the liquid binder and solid carrier were carefully characterized. The increased viscosity of the liquid bridges, due to the partial solubilization of the sugars, was found to play a major role in the agglomeration process since it controls the liquid mobility and its distribution. Experiments demonstrate the feasibility of the process and the ability of mixer torque rheometer to predict the optimal binder amount.