1. Capsule type

According to the material, capsules can be classified animal gelatin capsules (mainly made from animal bones, skins, etc.) and Botanical capsules (starch, fiber, algae, etc.)

According to the physical status, capsules can be classified hard capsules and soft capsules (pellets).

- Hard capsule is a kind of capsule which is filled uniform powder, granule, liquid or microcapsule with a certain amount of medicines and excipients (or not) into hollow hard capsule shell.

- Softgel capsule is a kind of capsule which is sealed the liquid raw material or mixture into the soft geltin capsule shell.

All this time, soft capsules are made of animal gelatin, while nowadays, more and more factories adopt plant materials to produce soft capsules. Vegetal hard capsules and soft capsules are suitable for customers with environmental awareness and religious and cultural restrictions.

2. Advantage and disadvantage of gelatin capsules

Gelatin, the most commonly used material for capsule production, is not only cheap, but also has a wide application range (color, taste, size). However, gelatin is a collagen-based animal by-product extracted from animals' connective tissues and organs, which is unacceptable for some religious beliefs or vegetarianism.

3. Advantages and disadvantages of vegetal capsules

The great advantage of cellulose or vegetal capsules is that they are not animal by-product. Therefore, it is very suitable for vegetarians and people of religious beliefs (Jews, Muslims), which is more favorite than gelatin capsule. Cellulose or vegetal capsules can be formed in different colors, sizes, and with more use flexibility.

What’s more, cellulose capsules are more suitable for packing semi-solid or gel contents. In addition, vegetal capsules have no potential health risks for a long termtaking, since they are 100% natural and non-toxic.

4. Vegetal capsule type

1) Starch capsule

Starch capsule is a new type of capsule which is mainly made of natural plant starch and without animal-derived ingredients. Vegetal starch is obtained through collecting, cleaning, squeezing and purifying the starch plant, such as cassava, corn, potato and so on.

Cassava starch is mainly amylopectin, its water content is similar to gelatin, and with good water resistance and oxygen isolation rate, can protect powder and liquid products well, just like gelatin.

2) HPMC capsule

It is a plant source capsule, the water content of hollow capsule is 4-6%, and up to 3% if required. With low water content, not easy to brittle, good toughness and chemical stability, the active ingredient content will not be decreased during storage. HPMC comes mainly from cotton, bark, etc.

The vegetal capsule has unique acid-resistant polymer property, which can resist decomposition of gastric acid; when leaving acidic environment, it began to decompose after 20 minutes in intestinal environment of PH 5.8. Therefore, it is more suitable for preserving probiotics, enzymes and many other sports nutrients.

3) Alginate capsule

There are mainly sodium alginate, carrageenan, pullulan and other types. Wherein, the sodium alginate is a polysaccharide carbohydrate extracted from kelp or horsetail of brown algae, and is an alginic acid derivative; Carrageenan is a polysaccharide extracted from marine red algae; Pullulan is a kind of macromolecular polysaccharide which is mainly composed of α-1,6-glucosidic bond combined with maltose.

With excellent surface smoothness, good gel properties and complex properties, these polysaccharide capsules not only can be independently used as soft capsule shell, but also can be compounded with starch or other edible gums to prepare soft capsules. It is an ideal new material for plant soft capsules.

5. In the future, vegetal capsules PK gelatin capsules

On the one hand, the application of animal-derived capsules is limited for religionists or vegetarians. On the other hand, supervision on food accessories tends to be strict, so the cost is gradually increasing. Vegetal capsules becomes the development trend, its annual growth rate in the world is 25% recently.

In addition, from the perspective of food safety, manufacturers are increasingly inclined to select vegetarian capsules.

6.Empty vegetarian capsules Herbal powder filling machine

How to fill empty vegetarian capsules?

How to use HALAL capsule filler?

Where to buy vegetarian capsule filling machine?

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