What is the function of microcrystalline cellulose?

Many people may not know what microcrystalline cellulose is. In fact, it is a chemical substance, usually a white powder. This powder usually has no obvious odor. In fact, microcrystalline cellulose has a wide range of uses. For example, it is indispensable in the pharmaceutical industry. In addition, cosmetics that women often use also contain microcrystalline cellulose ingredients. It also has the following uses.

What does microcrystalline cellulose do?

Microcrystalline cellulose is a pure product of cellulose depolymerization. Made from natural cellulose, it is an odorless and tasteless crystalline powder. The product can be used as a drug excipient and tablet disintegrant in the pharmaceutical industry; in the food industry, it can be used as an important functional food base material - dietary cellulose, and is an ideal health food additive; in the paint industry, it can be used as a thickener and emulsifier for water-based paints due to its thixotropy and thickening properties; in cosmetics, it combines filler, thickener and emulsifier functions in one, and has a good emulsifying ability for oily substances; in the wet manufacturing of artificial leather, it is used as a viscosity enhancer and filler to make the surface of the artificial leather smooth and the thickness uniform. It can be seen that microcrystalline cellulose has a wide range of uses and the domestic demand for this product will continue to increase.

Ultrafine edible fiber

Microcrystalline cellulose, referred to as MCC, is a granular powder product with a size of about 10 μm that is obtained by hydrolyzing natural cellulose in an acidic medium to reduce the molecular weight to a certain range. It is mainly used as a drug excipient in the pharmaceutical industry and has the following advantages over starch or starch derivatives:

(1) Easy to disintegrate, that is, the drug easily disintegrates after entering the stomach and is absorbed by the human body.

(2) It is not easy to mold because cellulose is a β-glucose configuration and starch is an α-glucose configuration. Amylases generally do not attack cellulose.

(3) Cellulose is not absorbed by the human body and is not likely to react to the drugs it carries, so it is safer. The disadvantage is that the price is relatively high.

Another product of microcrystalline cellulose is colloid (i.e. MCC gel), which is made from MCC powder as raw material and mixed into an aqueous solution of a certain concentration, and then passes through a special gelling device to become a colloid. MCC colloid has the following properties:

(1) It is a thixotropic colloid. It appears to be highly concentrated and viscous, but in fact it flows easily when external force is applied, and there is no tail when scooped up with a spoon.

(2) When its concentration is 3%, the colloid viscosity can reach 3000-5000 mPa·s.

(3) The colloid has good cold and hot stability, that is, the viscosity loss is not large during the freezing and heating cycle.

(4) Although cellulose is composed of glucose, the human body cannot digest β-glucose and its calorific value is zero. Therefore, microcrystalline cellulose only moves with food in the human body and is not absorbed by the human body. It can help digestion and achieve the purpose of reducing or preventing digestive system diseases.

*Pharmaceutical industry: drug excipients (powder), capsules (powder, direct consumption)

* Food industry: low-calorie ice cream (replacing part of milk fat), salad dressing (replacing part of milk fat), fiber-rich bread (powder)

* Cosmetics: basic ingredients (moisturizing, skin care).