Disintegration and dissolution testing of green tea dietary supplements: application and evaluation of United States Pharmacopeial standards

Abstract Approved performance quality tests are lacking in the United States Pharmacopeia (USP) for dietary supplements (DSs) containing green tea (GT) extracts. We evaluated the applicability of USP general chapter protocols for disintegration and dissolution testing of botanicals to GT DSs. Of 28 single-ingredient GT DSs tested in two to four lots, 9 (32.1%) always passed the disintegration test, 8 (28.6%) always failed, and 11 (39.3%) showed inconsistent results. Of 34 multi-ingredient DSs tested in two lots, 21 (61.8%) passed and 8 (23.5%) failed in both lots, 5 (14.7%) exhibited inconsistent performance. When stronger destructive forces were applied (disk added), all of the capsules that had failed initially, but not the tablets, passed. In dissolution testing, for the release of epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), only 6 of 20 single-ingredient DSs passed. Unexpectedly, with the addition of pepsin (prescribed by USP), only one additional DS passed. These results raise concerns that EGCG was not released properly from GT DS dosage forms. However, the general USP protocols may be inadequate for this botanical. More biorelevant destructive forces may be needed to break down capsules and tablets strengthened by the EGCG’s interaction with shell material and to overcome the inhibition of digestive enzymes by EGCG.