Development of hard candy lozenges composition to promote smoking cessation

Abstract

Introduction. Smoking is a complex medical and social problem not only in Ukraine but also around the world, taking into account high prevalence of this bad habit and its negative impact on human health. Tobacco dependence contributes to the emergence and progression of cardiovascular, gastrointestinal and dermatological diseases, adversely affects the psycho-emotional and sexual spheres, increases the risk of cancer and is the most important cause of chronic lung disease. Smoking is characterized by rapid addiction and long-term, and often chronic, addiction (nicotinism). Today, tobacco dependence is observed among both men and women. In addition, in recent years there has been a tendency to increase the prevalence of smoking among children and adolescents. There are two main methods of promoting smoking cessation: medicinal and non-medicinal. Drug-related therapy includes nicotine replacement therapy, which consists of taking drugs that reduce the level of nicotine in the blood and help quit smoking. In the non-medicinal method, various substitutes are used that reduce the urge to smoke: chewing gum, lozenges, e-cigarettes, reflexology, hypnosis, etc. The aim of our work was to develop the composition and technology of hard candy lozenges (HCL) to promote smoking cessation. Material & methods. Dry extracts of green tea and blueberries as APIs were selected. The following tests were used in the work: organoleptic (appearance, taste evaluation); physico-chemical (size (thickness, diameter), moisture content, pH determination); technological (uniformity of mass, resistance to crushing, friability, time of disintegration (dissolution), time of formation); mathematical (statistical processing of results). Results & discussion. Smoking is characterized by high prevalence among different sexes and age groups, negative impact on the whole human body and rapid chronic addiction. Based on marketing analysis, it is proved that the priority is to develop safe domestic medicines of integrated action to promote smoking cessation. Lozenges are a rational dosage form to promote smoking cessation due to good patient compliance due to its pleasant taste, ease and convenience of administration, rapid onset of action in the mouth, and therefore increased bioavailability. Reduction of gastric irritation and avoidance of first-pass metabolism is also important. Based on the analysis of literature sources, the APIs were selected. Given their effects on the human body, lozenges with extracts of green tea and blueberries will help cope with the symptoms of nicotine withdrawal and eliminate the psychological dependence on smoking, as well as improve the well-being of smokers due to the combination of phytocompounds available in APIs. The risks and disadvantages of making hard candy lozenges using sucrose are considered. The advantage of isomalt as a safe basis for the creation of HCL even at high temperatures and humidity has been established. By comparing the characteristics of HCL samples with different composition, it was found that galenIQ™ 900 provides high-quality non-stick lozenges which are easy to prepare and store. Taking into account the properties of the APIs, to provide the lozenges with pleasant taste properties, the orange flavor and the intense sweetener sucralose were added to their composition, which were selected on the basis of the studies. Conclusion. Based on the research, the optimal composition and rational technology of HCL to promote smoking cessation has been developed.

DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.6350221