Vitamin C + Zinc Effervescent Tablets

This is a finished dosage form, not a bulk raw material. The vitamin C carrier is L-ascorbic acid, C6H8O6, molecular weight 176.12, CAS 50-81-7, assaying 99.0 to 100.5 percent on the USP monograph; sodium ascorbate (CAS 134-03-2, C6H7NaO6, MW 198.11) is used where a less acidic mouthfeel or a lower free-acid load is wanted. Zinc is supplied as one of four salts and the choice sets the tablet weight, because elemental zinc content differs sharply between them: zinc citrate (CAS 546-46-3) carries not less than 31.3 percent Zn on the USP dried basis, zinc bisglycinate (CAS 14281-83-5) around 28 percent, zinc sulphate monohydrate (CAS 7446-19-7) about 36 percent by formula, and zinc gluconate (CAS 4468-02-4) only 13.9 to 14.6 percent anhydrous. A 15 mg elemental zinc dose therefore needs roughly 48 mg of zinc citrate but over 100 mg of zinc gluconate. In the effervescent format the tablet carries its own acid-base couple, anhydrous citric acid (CAS 77-92-9) against sodium bicarbonate (CAS 144-55-8), which reacts on contact with water to release carbon dioxide and drive the tablet into solution. The European Pharmacopoeia test for effervescent tablets places one tablet in 200 ml of water at 15 to 25 degrees Celsius and requires disintegration within 5 minutes; we run each batch against that method. Effervescent granulation is moisture-critical, so blending and compression are done under controlled low humidity and the tablets go straight into tubes with desiccant caps or into alu-alu blisters. Compressed, film-coated and chewable versions are available where effervescence is not wanted. Dose ceilings are a market question, not a formulation one, and they decide the product's legal identity. India's FSS (Nutraceuticals) Regulations 2022 hold vitamins and minerals in health supplements to the ICMR-NIN recommended dietary allowance, which for an adult man is 80 mg vitamin C and 17 mg zinc; a 500 mg or 1000 mg vitamin C effervescent sits above that ceiling and is handled in India as a drug under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act rather than as a food supplement. In the EU the relevant nutrient function claims, that vitamin C and that zinc each contribute to the normal function of the immune system, are authorised under Commission Regulation (EU) No 432/2012 and require the product to be at least a source of the nutrient, 15 percent of the nutrient reference value of 80 mg vitamin C or 10 mg zinc. Standard formulas are vegan and contain no milk, egg, soy, fish, crustacean, gluten, peanut or tree nut material.