Flavourants or flavouring agents are mainly used for masking the unpleasant or unacceptable odor from formulation and provide more pleasant taste or flavour.
There are four basic taste sensations are salty, sweet, bitter, and sour.
Flavour added to drug solutions can make a medicine more acceptable to take especially if the drug has an unpleasant taste.
In the pediatrics dosages form flavour play a key role for administration of the drugs.
Flavouring agents are more sensitive against the heat (thermolabile nature) so it cannot be added prior to an operation involving heat, they are often mixed with the granules as an alcohol solution.
In market many coating tablet are present for masking the flavour.
The unpleasant taste of the medicament is masked by the flavouring agents.
These agents help in increasing patient compliance for tablets that are chewable.
Disadvantages of flavouring agents
There are certain intolerable flavours that cannot be masked, e.g., in case of male fern extract, which is initially sweet, then astringent and finally bitter in taste.
Uses/Applications of flavouring agents
Masking the unpleasant taste or flavour and provide suitable flavour.