Delivery of Hypericum perforatum (St. John's Wort) in tablet form

Abstract

St. John's Wort has been indicated as a beneficial supplement to human diet. It has been traditionally provided as an extract, tincture, tea or capsule form, usually administered in amounts taken three times/day. It has been found that the manufacture of a tablet of this supplement material is a complex process, and that St. John's Wort extract is not amenable to wet tableting. A tablet which can be taken twice a day to provide a recommended supplemental level of St. John's Wort is described as comprising by weight of the tablet: 400 to 500 mg St. John's Wort extract as 57 to 75% by weight of the tablet, 1.0-5.0% by weight binder, 8-18% by weight dissolution regulator, up to 30% by weight filler, 0.2 to 5.0% by weight glidant, and 0.5 to 2.5% by weight lubricant/glidant. A process for manufacturing the tablet comprises the steps of a) mixing components comprising: 400 to 500 mg St. John's Wort extract as 57 to 75% by weight of the tablet, 1.0-5.0% by weight binder, 8-18% by weight dissolution regulator, up to 30% by weight filler, and less than a final proportion of glidant and lubricant/glidant of 0.2 to 5.0% by weight glidant, and 0.5 to 2.5% by weight lubricant/glidant to form a slug, b) breaking the slug down into particulates which can be subsequently compressed into a tablet, c) adding sufficient glidant and/or lubricant glidant to form a composition with proportions of glidant and lubricant/glidant of 0.2 to 5.0% by weight glidant, and 0.5 to 2.5% by weight lubricant/glidant, and d) compressing the composition to form a tablet.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.