The hard gelatin capsule is a dosage form prepared by filling an appropriate amount of the medicinal material extracts or the auxiliary material into a hard capsule. The soft gelatin capsule is a dosage form prepared by sealing a liquid drug or a suspension which does not dissolve the oil or a capsule material such as gelatin in the capsule.
The main differences are:
- The material made of soft capsules are not the same as hard capsules. Among them, gelatin is the main material of hard capsules. The soft capsule is composed of gelatin, plasticizer and water.
- Hard capsules can generally be split into two parts, the capsule body and the cap; the soft capsule cannot be peeled off and the inner filling is completely sealed.
- Hard gelatin capsules can be sealed after filling, or they can be filled with the drug after preparation. The filling and sealing of the soft gelatin capsules are combined on the machine.
- Hard capsules are mainly filled with solid preparations such as powders and granules, while soft capsules can be filled with liquid and oily preparations.
- Hard capsules are mostly cylindrical, while soft capsules are various in shape, such as spherical or elliptical.
