The elixir is a type of substance with a sweet or pleasant taste, used for the most part for the ingestion of medications that are administered orally, used opportunely for the treatment or cure of any specific pathology when used in the pharmaceutical field.
The elixir has an active component that will relieve the pathology for which it is being used, in other words, the elixir is basically a type of sweetened hydro-alcoholic chemical-based solution (sweet taste), which contains a active principle, which will develop the desired pharmacological effect for the treatment of the disease presented by the patient, these are intended for oral use.
Elixirs have specific characteristics in terms of their physical and chemical structure, compared to syrups the elixir is a little more liquid, that is, it has a lower percentage of viscosity to achieve this, it is made up of the combination of less viscous compounds in together with the application of a minimum amount of solvents that increase the viscosity; Regarding its chemical bases, they are made up of ethanol and water (that is why it is classified as a hydro-alcoholic solution), giving as final products composed of glycerin, propylene glycol, flavored agents and preservatives. Elixirs are not only used as a drug carrier, they can also be used as compoundsflavorings.
The elixirs will have an approximate alcohol concentration between about 15 ° to 50 °, which benefits or favors the inhibition of growth or proliferation of pathogenic microorganisms that can easily contaminate the elixir, so that it acquires a sweet flavor, the solution is included a variety of glucose specifically sucrose. In addition, to increase the pleasant taste, saccharin or glycerin is added, the active pharmaceutical ingredient is diluted in alcohol, then water and sucrose are applied, despite the fact that the elixirs are characterized by being not very viscous, you have to add components that increase in lower grade viscosity to avoid or inhibit precipitationof the active principles of the drug; a component that is used for such a function is for example glycerin (in addition to serving as a second sweetener as mentioned above) .
